Cat and Mouse
by Lauren Stargazer
Summary: Catharine and Ratana, commonly known as Cat and Mouse, are best friends. Toss in some royals, letters in a bottle, strange dreams, and a ball and things will never be the same. Inspired by the fairy tale "Cat and Mouse in Partnership." Complete.
1. 1-1 Dreams of the Past

_**Part 1: The Royals**_

_**Chapter 1: Dreams of the Past**_

_The Twenty-third of May_

**-0-**

Rain tapped against my window as I slipped into bed. I laid still for a moment, listening to the rain. I pulled up my blanket, trying to get comfortable. My eyes closed. I found the sound of rain to be soothing after a long day in the bakery. It was a simple sound that I looked forward to every time the sky above the kingdom of Spelika turned gray with dark clouds.

The pitter-patter turned into a lullaby, gently lulling me to sleep. My last thought before sleep claimed me was: "I wish I could listen to it rain like this every night."

**-0-**

I was five years old, sitting in the shade of a tree. A girl one year younger than me was also sharing the shady spot. I looked over to the girl. She was breathing loudly and smiling, as was I. The two of us had just finished a hard game of tag.

Pushing a bit of my auburn hair out of my face, I panted to the girl, "Ratana, I'm gonna ask Mommy for hair ribbons. Wanna come?"

Unable to say anything at the moment, my best friend just nodded. We stood up and left the small park we had been playing in and began our short walk to my home and a little bit later, I pushed open the door to _The Rose_, my mother's dress shop. My mother and I lived above the shop, just like Ratana and her family lived above the bakery next door. We walked in, and I saw that there were no customers in the shop.

"Mommy?" I called out. My mother, Feya, poked her head out from a back room, where she was probably working on a dress for some noblewoman. She smiled at us.

"Hello darlings!" she said, walking out of the room with two cups of water. She motioned for us to sit down on a couch that customers usually sat on. We did so and while we drank the cool water, Mother asked, "So how can I help you two lovely girls?"

I put down my cup on a table in front of us. "It's hot out. Can we have hair ribbons? Please?"

Mother smiled. "Of course you can. I'll go get them." With that, she left Ratana and I alone in the shop. She went into the back room.

"I keep forgettin' how diff'nt you an' your mommy are," Ratana said. She was right in that my mother looked very different than I did. She had blonde hair and blue eyes while I had auburn hair and brown eyes. Our facial features were so different that I couldn't even claim the same eye or nose shape as my mother.

"Yup," I mumbled as Mother walked back into the room.

"Here we go! Green for Miss Catharine and blue for Miss Ratana!" Mother quickly pulled up my hair into a ponytail and tied the green ribbon into a bow. Before I knew it, Mother had moved on to Ratana and tied a ribbon the same blue as Ratana's eyes into her brown hair.

Ratana and I giggled. Mother knew what colors we were going to ask for before we even said anything! Then again, we were pretty predictable; green was my favorite color and blue was Ratana's.

"Thank you Mommy!" I exclaimed as Ratana said, "Thank you Ms. Derose!" We both stood up.

"Any time girls," Mother said with a large smile. "And please, Ratana, call me Feya.

"Now you two go out and play, okay?" We nodded. "And be inside by dinner, Cat," Mother called out to me using my nickname as Ratana and I walked out of the room.

"Your mommy is nice," Ratana told me.

"So is your mommy. And your daddy," I pointed out. My smile slipped for a second as the word "daddy" left my mouth. Truth was, I didn't have a father. I shook my head slightly and then said, "How long have we been friends, Ratana?"

Ratana looked at me for a second before shrugging. "Forever. Why, Cat?"

That wasn't exactly true. I was one year old when she was born, but seeing as I was five, four years might as well have been forever. "I wanna give you a nickname, 'kay?"

My best friend's smile grew larger. "Okey dokey!"

We reached our tree in the park after running the rest of the way there and sat down. It was quiet as I thought of nicknames.

"How about Rat?" I asked.

Ratana wrinkled her nose. "No. Rats are icky!"

I racked my brain for another nickname to call my friend. Ana? No. Rata? No. Blue? No. "How 'bout …" I started and trailed off as I thought. "How 'bout … Mouse!"

"Where?" Ratana shrieked, leaping up.

"No, silly! You! Mouse can be your nickname."

"Me?" she asked and I nodded. "Me … Mouse … I kinda like it." She smiled at me. The look in her eyes told me that she really did like it.

I jumped up and started running, saying, "Yay! Now try to catch me if you can, Mouse!"

"Hey!" Ratana, now Mouse, yelled after me playfully before running after me. "I'm gonna get you, Cat!"

**-0-**

I popped up in my bed as thunder boomed. "It's only a little bit of thunder," I whispered to myself and lied back down onto my bed, wondering if the thunder woke up anyone else. I turned my head so I could see where Mouse was. She was still sleeping.

I closed my eyes, listening to the rain. How long had it been since I last called Mouse by her first name and not her nickname? I opened my eyes again and looked over at Mouse's sleeping form. It had been a long time since I called her Ratana casually to her face, I realized. She was sixteen. Twelve long years … The last time was in the park on the same day I first started calling her Mouse. Twelve _long_ years …

I began to fall asleep again.

**-0-**

Now I was about ten, sitting on my bed in my bedroom above the dress shop. A large book was open in front of me. Mother always made sure that I had an educational book to read about the history of some kingdom or a biography about some person and similar things. (Not that I ever argued; I loved to read whatever book I could get my hands on.) I shut the book closed as Mother walked into my room. "Hello, Mom!"

"Hello." Mother sat next to me on my bed. She glanced at the book on the nightstand and commented, "Interesting choice, Cat."

"I knew you'd say that." I grinned at my mother. She smiled back.

"You are growing up so quickly," Mother whispered.

I hugged her and whispered, "Because I really want to grow up and be like you!"

Mother hugged my tighter before letting go. "I love you, my little princess. But worry abut growing up less. Enjoy life."

"Of course, Mom. I love you too."

Silence fell between us for a short moment. Then Mother said, "It's time to go to bed now." She stood up to let me get under the blanket. As soon as I was comfortable, she bent down to give me a kiss.

"Mom?" I asked as she turned around to leave my room.

"Yes?" She didn't turn around, but at least she didn't keep walking towards the door.

I asked, "Can you tell me about Dad?" I could tell she was going to tell me no, so I quickly added, "Please, Mommy? I promise not to interrupt."

She turned around and sat on my bed before beginning her story. Slowly, she said, "I met your father for the first time when I was eighteen. We were both invited to the same party, and there he accidentally bumped into me. After he apologized we began to talk. I learned his name was Dastan Derose and that he was a merchant visiting from another kingdom.

"So we talked and danced and ended up having a lovely time. As the party drew to a finish, he asked me if he could see me again. I told him he could and where he could find me.

"Two months went by after the party before he visited me for the first time. And after that, it took yet another two months before the next visit. But by then, I believe we were falling in love so his visits became more and more frequent. I enjoyed every single one of those visits.

"When I was twenty he proposed. We were married within a year. I became Mrs. Feya Derose." Mother paused and looked down at her hands. The small smile she had was suddenly lost to a small frown.

"Mom?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

She blinked and then looked at me. "Yes, thank you." She sighed and continued her story. "Dastan left me in our little house to go on a business trip one day a few years later." Mother paused for a moment again. "Unfortunately, he never returned because he ran into a group of thieves and bandits. Your father tried to fight them, but he was outnumbered. They … They ki–" She just couldn't say it. So, instead she said, "Your father went to a better place that day." Mother pointed up. I nodded and then couldn't help but to look up. All I saw was the ceiling and not the mystical place beyond, but I didn't really care. My father was up there, in the sky somewhere.

"He never got to see his baby girl," Mother said, causing me to look at her again. "You were born after he died. A more beautiful baby I had never seen. Even as a baby you looked just like him, Cat. You still do.

"So I sold everything, and within a few months, we moved here. I moved us here to the kingdom of Spelika for a new start. I opened my dress shop and make and sell many pretty dresses here." Mother stood up and kissed my forehead. "Not one of those dresses could ever be called more beautiful than you, my little princess," she whispered. "I love you. Sweet dreams."

She walked out of my room, closing the door behind her. I closed my eyes.

**-0-**

Thunder woke me yet again. Checking on Mouse once more, I noted that she was still sleeping. That girl could sleep through the end of the world.

I sighed softly. Two dreams of memories in one night. Did I really want to g to sleep and dream of another memory?

Yes; maybe it would be of a happy memory. No; I have had worse. Yes. No. Yes but no.

Lightning flashed and the entire room was filled with light for a quick moment. Thunder followed quickly. I jumped a little. How much longer would it storm? And without really thinking, I reached over to my nightstand, where I felt a familiar wooden box. My box. My beautiful little box. I moved my hand away from the box to my pillow and fell asleep. A regular dream came to me.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Congrats on making it through this first chapter. It's a lot of blah background stuff. Trust me, the story gets better.

Many thanks to: _Ilikemutemath_ and _Rosaline Redd _for reviewing this chapter!

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	2. 1-2 The Hans Family Bakery

_**Part 1: The Royals**_

_**Chapter 2: The Hans Family Bakery**_

_The Twenty-fourth of May_

**-0-**

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that the sun had risen. The second was that the rain was gone. I guessed that it would likely rain again throughout the day. The third thing I noticed was that Mouse was already awake and up, which meant that I had slept in longer than I normally did and had to get up.

Groaning, I pushed the blanket off me and slipped out of my bed. I made my way to the wardrobe in order to grab a clean dress.

"Which one?" I asked myself out loud. "Ratty old dress number one or number two?" I held up two simple dresses. Neither was actually bad, but they weren't like Mother's. Mouse and I had bought these from an elderly lady on the other side of town. The dresses weren't much, but they were good enough for wearing around the bakery.

"Dress number one," I decided, quickly putting it on. I patted down the skirt of the light blue gown and wondered how long had it been since I had last worn a dress Mother made me. Then, at the thought of my mother, I glanced back at the box on my nightstand. It was the last gift she had given me before she disappeared a week after my twelfth birthday.

I forced myself to look away from the small wooden box. Grabbing a brush, I pulled it through my auburn hair.

"Ribbon or no ribbon?" I now asked half-heartedly before opting to quickly tie up my hair using a matching blue ribbon.

_"Green for Miss Catharine and blue for Miss Ratana!"_ I smiled at the memory of my mother's voice. Things had changed. Some small and trivial, others not. One trivial change was that Mouse's favorite color was no longer blue; it was purple to represent romance and royalty—two of Mouse's favorite subjects to daydream about when she wasn't thinking about the bakery. My favorite color, on the other hand, had not changed from green, but seeing as blue and brown were the unofficial colors of _TheHans Family Bakery_, the place where I lived and worked (talk about big changes), green wasn't one of the colors I was encouraged to wear around the bakery. Not that it really mattered, though, seeing as how Mouse and Gwen were the owners.

I took a quick look at myself in the mirror and then put on some simple slippers. "Good enough," I thought and walked out of the room, heading down the short hall towards the stairway that would lead me down into the bakery. I pushed open the door and went down the narrow stairway. Each step I took made the wood below my feet creak. But in seconds I was pushing open another door that led me into the kitchen, where a familiar face that looked shockingly similar to Mouse's was eating.

"Good morning Gwen," I said to Mouse's older sister. She was eating a piece of bread that was probably about to go stale for breakfast.

"Morning Cat," Gwen replied. "You just missed Peter and Mouse is up front in the shop." Gwen was twenty and married. Peter, her husband of two years, was a kind man with the unfortunate job of being a local messenger. The hours were horrible and his favorite saying was, unsurprisingly, "don't kill the messenger." We offered him a job in the bakery on more than one occasion, but he always politely declined. That was probably a good thing, seeing as how wasn't a very good baker.

"Thanks," I said and pushed the curtain that separated the kitchen and the shop to the side and walked through the doorway. I instantly saw my friend, who was prepping up the shop before we opened.

"Hmm…" I heard her say to herself while studying the baguettes. "I can't sell this one; it's beginning to stale! And these" – she walked over to where a few pastries where displayed under a glass cover – "will just have to do until I can get a fresh batch out!"

"Talking to yourself again?" I suddenly said, making Mouse jump and turn around to look at me.

"Good morning to you too!" she practically shouted. Then she quieted down and said, "Have you eaten anything?" I shook my head and Mouse handed me the baguette she had picked out for being too stale.

"Gee. Stale bread. How can I ever repay you?" I sarcastically asked.

Mouse winked and said, "You can begin by putting on an apron and then you can pull the bread out of the oven."

Baguette in hand, I walked back into the kitchen. There were a few white aprons hanging on the wall by hooks. I put one on and took a look at the oven. The bread inside looked good, so I pulled out the loaves like Mouse asked me to.

Gwen, who had by then grabbed a tray with squares of dough on it and a few other ingredients, noticed the baguette next to me. "Are you that hungry Cat?"

I smiled. "Nah. Mouse gave it to me because it's beginning to stale."

"I should have guessed." Gwen chuckled, probably thinking of her own breakfast.

I broke off a piece of the baguette and took a bite. The bread would just have to do. "So what are you making?" I asked.

"Some apple turnovers."

When I was twelve and had just moved into the bakery, mentioning any kind of pastry made my mouth water like crazy. It was incredible how quickly I gained self-control those first few years.

"I'm sure they will be delicious," I said.

Mouse chose that moment to bop into the kitchen. She examined the hot loaves of bread I had pulled out of the oven. "Perfect!" she exclaimed. She was a perfectionist when it came to anything in the bakery. "Ready to open up for today?" she asked us.

Gwen nodded to her sister and I said, "Ready as I'll ever be."

Mouse grinned at me and said, "And that's good enough for me. Would you like the honor of flipping the sign?" By "flipping the sign" she meant that I could flip a sign hanging on the bakery's window from "_CLOSED_" to "_OPEN_."

"I would just love to." I carefully picked up the fresh loaves of bread (and not with my bare hands, mind you) and placed them in the shop on my way to the window in the front. Then I flipped the sign. But instead of doing something else productive, I stared out the window.

"It's definitely going to rain today," I thought. "It's not going to be a good day for business. Maybe I'll be able to convince Mouse to close the bakery a bit early and then play a card game … Yes, that's just what I'll do!"

I turned around and as I walked into the kitchen Gwen walked out. "What about the turnovers?" just blurted out of my mouth.

Gwen laughed at me. "Mouse is going to finish making them. Hers are better than mine, anyway!" Very true, that.

I shrugged and walked towards Mouse. "Your parents would be really proud of you. After all, you are taking really good of the bakery and you are one excellent cook!"

"You say that all the time" was her soft response.

"Yes, but it's all true." Unable to simply stand there and watch Mouse, I grabbed some stuff to make baguettes, including a starter of yeast, water, and flour that had already rested.

"Actually …" Mouse started, suddenly looking upset about something.

"Actually what?"

She sighed. I turned around to get a really good look at her. "I'm worried about the bakery. Gwen was crunching some numbers last night about how much money we've been making. Well … I think the sickness that Mom and Dad died of last year frightened off a few too many customers."

Completely abandoning my pile of ingredients, I moved next to Mouse and gave her a quick hug. "Don't worry," I said. "I'm here for you, Gwen is here for you, and even Peter wants to help you."

"But imagine what Mom and Dad would think if I lost the bakery!" She looked like she was about to cry.

"Mouse! Aren't you listening? We aren't going to lose the bakery! None of us would ever let that happen!"

She used her sleeve to wipe away the tears. "I really do hope so. Thanks." She turned around to continue working, obviously trying to pretend the entire conversation had never happened. I tried to do the same. We ended up working a few minutes in silence before I said something.

"Are you up to a game of Fish Tails later? We can use your new card deck." Fish Tails was Mouse's favorite game. Maybe it would take her mind off things.

"Sure."

Smiling, I said, "Then you should start preparing now to get stomped."

Was that a smile I saw on her face? It was! "I was about to say the same to you."

"Bring it on!" I challenged.

"Oh, I will! But question is: will _you_?"

I laughed. A happy Mouse made a happy house. Unless it was the rodent sort of mouse. In that case, it made for a very _un_happy house. "Of course! Now are you done with those turnovers yet?"

"Actually, I am. They are ready for the oven! And how about you? Are you done with those baguettes yet?"

I looked shamefully down at what I had made so far. "Not quite."

Mouse covered her mouth and tried to suppress a giggle when she looked at my blob of dough. "Just keep working on it."

So I did while she put the pastries in the oven. By the time I declared my dough ready to be cooked, Mouse was pulling her turnovers out.

"They look and smell delicious!" I praised my friend.

Mouse had a huge smile on her face. I didn't have to say anything for her to know how good of a baker she was, but she loved the compliments nonetheless. "Thank you. Do you want one?"

"Say yes!" some part of me said. But I tried to ignore the little voice and "no, thank you" was what came out of my mouth.

"Suit yourself. More for the customers." Mouse set the pastries aside, letting them cool a bit before she took them into the shop. She made some icing and drizzled it onto the turnovers. Then she finished cleaning up the area she had been working in and the tools she had used while I checked the oven to make sure that I could put my baguette-shaped dough balls in. Everything all set a moment later, I placed the dough in the oven to cook.

"I'm going to take these up front now. Are you sure you don't want one?" Mouse asked about the turnovers again.

"I am absolutely sure," I said as I began to tidy up my work area.

Mouse shrugged and stepped out of the kitchen. She returned after a few seconds and helped me clean up.

"What are you going to cook now?" I asked.

"I was thinking that maybe we could play a few rounds of Fish Tails."

"I didn't think you'd want to play this soon. And what about making fresh bread for the bakery?"

"When I took out the turnovers, I saw how close it is to raining. Once it starts to come down we probably won't get very many customers. I'd rather play now and see what the storm is going to do later. If it clears up, then we'll cook. If not, we'll close the shop early." Then she paused for a second. "Besides, I really do want a little distraction."

I smiled. "Okay. Why don't you go upstairs and grab your card deck. I'll ask Gwen if she wants to play." Mouse nodded and walked off. I went to where Gwen was sitting by the table with drawers that we put the money from customers into. She was reading a book.

"Any customers yet?" I asked.

Gwen looked up from the book and said, "Just Old Sue." Old Sue was a quiet elderly woman who came in every few days and always got the same thing. In all my days of working in the bakery, I don't think she had spoken more than a dozen words.

"Would you like to play a few rounds of Fish Tails with Mouse and me?" I asked, eyeing the dark clouds outside of the shop.

"Sure, why not?" Gwen cleared the table, making room for our game. Mouse came into the room one minute later, clutching her card deck.

We quickly dealt the cards and began our first round of the game. Then, after the second round we took a break and I pulled my baguettes out of the oven. It was when we were playing our fifth round that lightning flashed and thunder boomed. Gwen and I were tied with one victory each and Mouse was about to win her third game in a row. We all jumped a bit, but Mouse accidentally dropped her cards on the floor.

"Don't look!" Mouse said as I bent down to help her pick up her cards. "Thanks, but I'll get them."

"Whatever you say." I set my cards face-down on the table and stretched.

That's when two people stepped into _The Hans Family Bakery_, the rain beginning to pour down behind them as lightning lit up the sky and silhouetted the two ominously.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _Ilikemutemath_ and _kerensparkle_ for reviewing this chapter and and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	3. 1-3 Blueberry Pie

_**Part 1: The Royals**_

_**Chapter 3: Blueberry Pie**_

_The Twenty-fourth of May_

**-0-**

There was one boy and one girl, both roughly my age. The boy, who had brown hair and bright green eyes, was wearing a pale blue shirt and tan trousers made from very good material. The girl, who also had brown hair and the exact same stunning green eyes, was wearing a pale pink dress made of silk. The dress, while fairly simple, was probably worth more than all my other dresses combined. The two obviously came from some money.

The girl took a quick look around the bakery. She didn't even pause when she saw us. Instead, she turned to the boy and said, "You brought me to a bakery? Of all the places to go off to, you chose a bakery?" There was a tinge of anger in her voice.

"Jonathan said it's the best in the kingdom," the boy replied.

Mouse, who had by then popped up from the floor with all her cards in her hand, blushed. Whether it was because the boy was handsome or because of the compliment of her bakery, or both, I didn't know.

The girl, however, glared at him. "What would Jonathan know about the best bakeries? He is only a squire, a knight in training!"

"He is our friend! And it's not like he is _always_ training."

The girl turned her back to him, pouting.

Gwen took the moment of silence to clean up our game then practically run into the kitchen while Mouse was looking around the bakery, probably wishing she had kept cooking. I just stood up from my chair and tried by best to look professional.

The girl must have looked outside and saw all the rain pouring down because she suddenly turned around to face the boy and said, "Look! If we leave now my dress will be ruined!"

A look of exasperation was clear on the his face. "I told you to wear something simple!"

"This _is_ the most simple of my outfits!" she said, grabbing the skirt of her dress.

"What about that dress you wore last week—the blue one? Or the old shirt and pants of mine that I gave you?"

"Dirty! They're still filthy from last week's adventures! Frankly, I'm not sure if all the mud will _ever_ come out!"

The boy ran has hand through his hair, not saying anything.

I was thinking they were obviously brother and sister. They had the same thick brown hair and green eyes. The way they spoke and moved around each other reminded me of the way Mouse and Gwen acted together (on their bad days, to be exact). The two were also very close in age. They had to be twins.

The boy glanced at me, then at Mouse. He asked, "Do you have any fresh pies?"

Mouse's eyes widened a bit and she opened her mouth to say something, but the girl spoke first. "Forget pies, Arvin! What about my dress? The rain will absolutely ruin it!"

I took one step forward, towards the two people in the bakery. "Imported silk. From Arode, probably," I calmly said to the girl. One pair of blue eyes and two pairs of green eyes locked onto me. Everyone was silent for a moment.

Then the girl said, "What?"

"Your dress is made out of imported silk from Arode. That silk has special qualities against water. As long as you don't get drenched the dress will be fine." I smiled victoriously.

"How do you know that?" she asked. Right. I was a bakery girl who was suddenly spouting information about silk. "My mother is Feya Derose. She had a dressmaking shop next door, so I grew up learning all about different fabrics."

"I see … I haven't heard the name Feya Derose in a long time. How is she? And what are you doing in a bakery?"

"I don't know. And that is a story I do not feel like sharing this second." My smile fell as I said that.

The boy—Arvin—then said, "So … Do you have any fresh pies?"

Mouse answered first. "What kind?"

"Blueberry?" he asked hopefully.

"No, sorry. But I can start making a pie now, if you want." Arvin looked back at his twin, who shrugged.

"Look," I said. "It's pouring outside. There's no way that dress will _not_ get drenched. Why don't you both wait out the storm here? Mouse can make the pie, and in the meantime we can chat or play a game."

Arvin spoke. "So what kind of pie do you want, Amity?"

"Blueberry is fine with me," she said to her brother. Turning to me, Amity said, "And thank you for the offer. We accept."

"One blueberry pie, coming up!" Mouse announced before rushing into the kitchen.

"Sit down," I said, motioning to the chairs Mouse and I had vacated. "I'll go grab a few stools form the kitchen. Once Mouse is finished preparing the pie, we can all gather around here. Now excuse me; I'll be right back."

When I stepped into the kitchen, I saw that both Gwen and Mouse were working together on the same pie. It would be in the oven in no time!

And then my thoughts wandered from blueberry pies to the two customers as I grabbed the tools. I listed what I knew. One, they were wealthy. Two, they were twins with brown hair and bright green eyes. Three, their names were Arvin and Amity. Anything else? I felt like I should have know them. But from where?

I sat down in one of the stools I had just set down in the shop. The twins were both smiling at me and I was smiling back as I noted that their posture was just as good as mine. Mother always said that my posture was a perfect as a princess's … Oh! Princess!

And that's when it hit me. The two people sitting in front of me were Prince Arvin and Princess Amity Fallance of Spelika!

"So …" I said, trying to think of a way to start the conversation with the royals. Thankfully for me, Mouse and Gwen chose that second to walk in the room. They sat down and Gwen revealed the fact 1that she held Mouse's card deck.

"The pie is in the oven," Mouse said.

"Great! Thank you!" was the prince's reply.

Gwen suggested that we play a round of Fish Tails. The only problem was that the twins didn't know how to play, which completely astounded Mouse. She began to explain the gameplay. It took awhile, but eventually we dealt out the cards and started our first round.

"You normally don't leave the castle before it storms, do you?" I asked out of the blue in the middle of the round.

Amity set a card down on the table and said, "Arvin thought we could beat the storm. Didn't expect my hair not to cooperate, did you, Arvin?" She was smiling as she spoke. She wasn't upset that I knew they were from the castle.

Mouse and Gwen, on the other hand, looked confused, as if I had spoken in another language. The prince caught their look and laughed as he took his turn. "How rude of us. We come in here and bicker while you bake us a pie and play this game with us and we never even introduced ourselves! I am Arvin Fallance. You probably know me as Prince Arvin."

"And I am Amity Fallance. Princess Amity. But forget formalities; to you, we are just Amity and Arvin, okay?"

Mouse's eyes were wide and Gwen had forgotten that is was her turn. I snapped my fingers in front of their eyes. It worked.

"Wow," Mouse managed to say as Gwen set down a card. "I'm honored that you are here in my bakery." Then she took her turn.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Gwen said calmly.

My turn. I faced the twins. "I'm Catharine Derose, but call me Cat. Everyone does." I nodded my head once to each of them.

"I am Gwen Elrun." She flashed a big smile.

"Gwen is my sister. I'm Ratana Hans. Mouse is my nickname. Only Cat and Gwen here call me Mouse, but you can too, if you want."

Arvin said, "It's a pleasure to meet you Gwen … Cat … Mouse." He winked at Mouse. I could only imagine how quickly her heart must have been beating.

"Same here," Amity added.

I could tell they really did mean it, which meant a lot to me. Wouldn't you feel special if two royal were honestly pleased to meet you?

"Tell me, Cat, why do you work here in the bakery?" Amity asked.

"Do you really want to know?" I asked back. She nodded and I sighed. I was going to tell them. It was probably better that they knew, anyway. "I lived next door with Mother pretty much all my life. Until a week after my twelfth birthday, that is.

"Mother gave me a wooden box. I assumed it was a late birthday present but loved it nonetheless. It was … _is _the size of a small jewelry box with a red rose and leaves painted on the lid. She told me it was very special and that I had to be very careful with it and never lose it. She also told me to wait until the next day to open it up. It tortured me all day long, but I didn't open it.

"The next morning, I opened up the box and found a letter and a necklace. The letter was from Mother, telling me sorry, that she loved me and would return, where to find money, and to sell the shop. Mother had left me and didn't tell me where she was going." My eyes were beginning to water, so I tried to blink away the tears and used my sleeve to rub away the tears that had already escaped. I refused to cry any more about it. I cried all my tears years ago. I frowned and tried to focus on my cards. It was my turn.

"So you moved here," Arvin guessed.

"Yes," I said. "How much longer on the pie, Mouse?"

"It should be ready by now if you want to pull it out of the oven."

"I will." I stood up and bean to walk back into the kitchen, running away from what I had just said to the twins. To the nice people I had just met … Good gracious, I sure did know how to ruin a good mood!

"Cat," Amity said before I stepped into the kitchen, "we're sorry about the past. Hopefully we can make the future better."

"Thank you," I softly said. The kitchen seemed so empty as I walked to the oven. I opened the oven and the smell of a fresh blueberry pie filled the air. It was so simple. Why couldn't everything be as simple as making a blueberry pie?

I pulled the pie out and set it down on the countertop. It was perfect looking and I could only imagine how perfect it tasted. I was sure that Arvin and Amity would be very pleased.

I thought of what would happen if one of our royals said it was the best blueberry pie they ever tasted. Their eyes would be closed as they focused on the taste and smell, while Mouse would have a gigantic smile spreading across her face. Gwen would look happy, knowing that she had helped make the pie. And me? I'd be proudly looking at my best friend. The smile on my face would show just how happy I was for Mouse better than any words could.

Soft talking from the other room sent be back into reality. A smile was on my face. Pie in hand, I walked back into the shop. Everyone was eagerly waiting for me.

They were going to love the blueberry pie.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	4. 1-4 Being Royalty

_**Part 1: The Royals**_

_**Chapter 4: Being Royalty**_

_The Twenty-fourth of May_

**-0-**

No more than five minutes later, we were all sitting around the table in the shop, a plate with a slice of pie in front of each of us.

"Dig in," Mouse said, eagerly looking at Arvin and Amity. She was obviously dying to find out what the royal twins thought of her cooking. We ate in silence, wanting to eat the delicious pie more than talk about how good it was.

"That," Amity finally said after scooping every last crumb off her plate, "was incredible."

Arvin nodded in agreement. He looked at Gwen and Mouse and said, "It was. My compliments to the chefs."

"Oh, Mouse did most of the work. I just helped." Gwen put a hand on her little sister's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze.

Before Mouse could insist otherwise, Arvin asked, "Is anyone going to eat that last slice?"

I shook my head, happy with the one piece I had. Amity, though, replied, "Don't you think we should take that slice back to the castle and let Stephan taste it?"

"Stephan … as in Prince Stephan?" I asked.

"Yep." Arvin nodded. "Our older brother. And if he wants some pie, he can come here himself," he joked, grabbing the last blueberry pie slice.

"Did you ever think that Sarina might have wanted that slice, then? She sure can't come here and get it," Amity pointed out. Arvin just dismissed his sister with a wave of his hand, his mouth full with pie. It was strange listening to those two talk about Crown Prince Stephan and Princess Sarina so casually.

"What's it like?" Mouse asked, probably thinking the same thing I was.

"What's what like?" Amity said, clueless.

"Being royal and rich. Having Prince Stephan for an older brother and Princess Sarina for a younger sister. What's it all like?" Mouse clarified.

Arvin scooped another bite of pie into his mouth, leaving his sister to answer Mouse's question.

"Being royalty has its advantages. I always have dresses and jewelry in the latest fashions, but – "

"And there's always plenty of food," Arvin added between bites. "But I have to say, they don't make pies near as good as this one back in the palace." Mouse blushed.

Amity gave her brother the evil eye for interrupting her, which made me giggle. She then continued where she left off. "But it's still hard work. We have class after class about things like how to be good rulers and we have to go to boring meetings and talk to people who can't see past their noses half the time. Plus, we usually don't have anywhere near as much freedom as you have. You can decide things like what you are going to do, where you are going to go, who to see, and what to wear …."

"Then what are you doing here and wearing what you are?" I blurted out, quite curious. I mean, Amity chose to wear a simple dress and Arvin had chosen to visit Mouse's bakery. That went against what she just said.

"Amity came up with the plan a few years ago," Arvin answered. "She wanted to leave the castle and go on an adventure, so she let me in on her plan. The next day, we snuck out of the castle until the guards found us a few hours wandering through the marketplace right next to the castle."

"We worried Mother and Father half to death!" Amity actually sounded proud about it! "They sent us to our rooms, but we had gotten a taste of freedom, so we snuck out of the castle again a week or so later."

Arvin pushed his empty plate forward and continued, "It ended with the same results. Our escapades became so regular afterwards that Mother and Father didn't try to stop us. They just asked that we take a few guards with us and that we only leave the castle after we finish all of our duties for the day."

"We more or less stick to those guidelines now," Amity said with a wink.

"The half about only after finishing our duties, anyway," Arvin admitted.

Gwen smiled, but gathered the empty plates and taking them into the kitchen after softly saying "excuse me." From the look in her eyes, I guessed that she probably wasn't going to walk into the room again while the royal twins were there. She obviously like them, but maybe she was afraid because they were a prince and a princess and it only just struck her then just how rich and powerful they were.

My eyes moved from Gwen as she walked into the kitchen to Mouse. A question suddenly popped into my mind. "And what are your siblings like? Are they anything like you two?"

The twins looked at each other as if they were trying to decide who would answer me. Arvin smiled and Amity stuck out her tongue. Never before did I think I would see a princess sticking out her tongue at a prince! Then again, I never thought of a prince and princess quite like Arvin and Amity.

Amity ended up talking first, but Arvin wasn't exactly silent the whole time. The conversation every once in awhile strayed from the royal family to topics such as the weather ("It looks like the rain has lightened up a bit.") or our favorite flavor of cake (Arvin and Mouse loved chocolate, while Amity and I preferred vanilla). I learned that Prince Stephan didn't go on many "adventures" with the twins. Being first in line to the throne, he wasn't allowed to skip any classes like the twins did. When he did have free time he'd visit the public gardens or the royal stables.

When the gardens were mentioned I couldn't help but thinking of the park Mouse and I used to play in. It was removed a few years ago so some shops could be built. Soon after, the gardens by the palace were opened to the public. I hadn't visited them yet. Maybe I would visit them soon.

Princess Sarina, on the other hand, never left the castle because she was deemed to be "too young." She spent her free time talking to anyone who would listen or play games. From what I learned, it wasn't a surprise that she was called "The Little Laughing Princess" ("Or just 'Lilap' for short," Amity told us) by those who knew her.

Eventually, it came to our attention that Arvin and Amity would have to return to the castle, rain or not.

"Thank you so much for everything," Amity said as we stood up.

"It was nothing really!" Mouse replied.

Arvin was digging through his pocket. He pulled out a handful of coins. "Here. This is for the pie."

Mouse pushed the hand away gently. "Oh no, I couldn't accept anything. Consider it on the house."

I raised an eyebrow at Mouse. She complained in the morning about money and then turned it away when a wealthy prince offered it?

Arvin turned to me. He took my hand and dropped the coins into it, "I insist that you take the money. Pie as good as yours should not go unpaid for!"

I looked down at the coins that were in my hand. My eyes instantly widened. Our kingdom used five main coins as currency. From least to greatest they were: the sparr, the dukk, the hawkk, the eaglle, and the griff. What I held in my hand was one of each!

"No no no no! This is way too much!" I said quickly. The griff was made of gold, for goodness sake! A pie was hardly even comparable to the gold coin in value.

"Perhaps it is a lot," Amity said, "but please do accept it. You were all so kind for allowing us to stay here and playing and talking to us."

I nodded. There was no point in trying to reason with them.

"Thank you," Mouse said. "This morning I was worried about making enough money to keep the bakery, but now I see that I won't have to worry about that for another few months now! Thank you!"

"Going through hard times?" Amity asked. Mouse nodded. "Then you'll be getting a lot of customers soon. We're going to recommend this bakery to everyone we know. Aren't we Arvin?"

"I was going to recommend this place anyway," he said with a wink.

I wasn't about to let my best friend do all of the thanking, so I said, "We greatly appreciate everything. It was a pleasure meeting you both." And then I though of Amity's dress as thunder boomed.

"Wait here," I quickly said before rushing up to my room. I grabbed my cloak. It was simple and brown, but would do good enough.

When I got back down to the shop, I handed Amity my cloak. "Here. Considering the rain has only let up a little, this should help your dress with the water."

She smiled. "How thoughtful. Thank you." She then put it on and we shared farewells. The two royal twins then rushed off into the rain. It didn't really hit me until they were out of sight that besides the money, Arvin and Amity seemed almost seemed like normal people.

I truly hoped that I'd be able to see them again soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	5. 1-5 Picnics and Peter

_**Part 1: The Royals**_

_**Chapter 5: Picnics and Peter**_

_The Thirty-first of May_

**-0-**

It wasn't until much later that I realized just how big of a change that one visit made on me. I think it was on the night of the ball that it hit me just how different my life could have turned out if things had gone differently that day … But I am getting ahead of myself. Back to the story.

**-0-**

In less than one week, we saw that the twins must have kept their promise to recommend _TheHans Family Bakery_ to others. Obviously, the nobles listened very carefully to a prince and princess of Spelika.

I was running the shop exactly one week after Arvin and Amity visited us while Mouse and Gwen were working in the kitchen. It was a little past midday and I had been taking a bite out of a sandwich when the door opened and in walked a familiar face.

"Hello Cat!" Amity said cheerfully, giving me a quick hug. Her dress was a nice shade of green that complemented her eyes and she had a beautiful white flower in her hair above her ear. "How are you doing?"

Excited to see her, I quickly responded, "Great, and we have you and Arvin to thank because business is booming! And how are you, Amity?"

There had been one customer in the room at the time. She was at most a couple years older than me and appeared to be a servant of a noble. She must have made the connection between my mention of the names Arvin and Amity and the royals. (Well, Amity's expensive looking dress might have given a bit away, too.) The poor girl put down the bread she had been inspecting and practically ran out of the bakery, her eyes wide with surprise.

Amity turned around and watched the door close as she said, "Oops. You'd think I had the plague sometimes because of the way some people act around me!" She shook her head and turned back around to face me. "But I'm doing fine. It's good to hear the bakery is going well."

"So what brings you here today?" I asked, curious like I always seemed to be.

Amity held out neatly folded fabric to me. "This is for you. Thank you for letting me use it."

Oh! She was returning my cloak. I took it from her and set it down on the table. "Any time," I said.

"My dress is still in perfect condition thanks to that. Arvin, on the other hand, tripped and fell in a puddle. I wish you could have seen his face!" We laughed.

"So where is Arvin?" I said when our laughter finally died down.

"He's at sword practice with Stephan. I had no classes and I didn't feel like waiting for him, so I came here alone. Where's Mouse?"

"Back in the kitchen." I called out loudly to my friend. In a few seconds she made her entrance into the room. She was covered almost from head to toe in flour. I groaned, imagining the giant mess in the kitchen. Mouse just grinned at me, telling me without any words that she had either already taken care of the mess or that I would be excused from any clean up duties if she hadn't cleaned it up yet. Then she gave a very light hug to Amity and the two exchanged greetings.

"So when is the next day that the bakery is closed?" Amity then asked.

"Sunday," Mouse said without even taking a second to think about it. "We're closed every Sunday."

"That's two days from now," Amity pointed out. "Do you have any plans?"

I shook my head and Mouse did the same. "None as of right now," I said. "Why?"

"If it doesn't storm, how would you both like to come down to the gardens and have a picnic?"

"I'd love to," Mouse said. "Do you want to go, Cat?"

"Yes, of course." I smiled. It looked like I was finally going to see the gardens. Better yet, I'd be able to see it with someone who probably knew it like the back of her hand.

"Great," Amity said. "Is there any way the two of you – er, three of you if Gwen wants to come – could bring a pie?"

Mouse giggled. "I am sure that could be easily arranged. What time will the picnic be?"

Amity didn't even blink before saying, "I was thinking that we could arrive at the gardens a little before noon, have lunch, and then take you an a little tour of the park. Sound good?" Pinch me, I must be dreaming! Mouse and I nodded enthusiastically. "Great," Amity said. "Well, I think it is best if I go now. It was delightful seeing you again. I'm looking forward to the picnic at the gardens on Sunday!"

"Leaving so soon?" I asked as Amity took a step towards the door.

"Yep, sorry. There are people to see, places to go, and things to do, but just not enough time in the day to do them all."

"We understand completely. Have a nice day and we'll see you soon," I said.

We all waved farewell and Amity opened the door. A tan hand grabbed the door and held it open for her. Amity voiced her gratitude to the man (for the hand was definitely not that of a woman's) and rushed off.

Next thing we knew, the person who had held the door open walked into the shop as if he lived there. Then again, he really _did _live there with us. The mentioned man, if you haven't already guessed, was Gwen's husband, Peter Elrun. He was very tan with dirty blond hair and big brown eyes.

"Who was that?" he asked, pointing at the door.

Mouse, who had still done absolutely nothing about the flour covering her hugged her brother-in-law and said matter-of-factly, "Princess Amity."

Peter raised an eyebrow and kept looking between Mouse and the door. Finally, he said, "A princess. Of course you two would have a princess coming to your bakery not just once, but twice." He shook his head and smiled. "Of course."

Peter had a smile that I found infectious. Someone could be having a terrible day, but then he smiles and they pretty much always end up smiling along with him in the end. Trust me, I speak from experience.

"So what are you doing home so early?" I said.

"I got out early. Do you have a problem with that?"

Mouse said, "I have no problem at all."

"Good. So where is my wife? And what are you doing covered all covered in flour?"

I am absolutely sure that I saw Mouse blush under the thick layer of flour. "Oh, the crazy woman who _threw_ the flour on me? She is in the kitchen, hopefully cleaning up her mess!" Mouse practically shouted that last part, which brought Gwen out.

She gave Peter a peck on the lips. "Hey, honey. Have a good day at work?"

Peter shrugged. "Same ol', same ol'. Nothing special about today except I got out early because it's the boss's birthday and he wanted to go home early."

"That's good," Gwen said. "Have you had lunch yet?" He hadn't. "Come in the kitchen and I'll whip something together if you help me knead some dough."

At the mention of food, Peter quickly agreed. It didn't matter that Gwen was making him work a bit for the food, so long as he got fed in the end he was happy. If only everyone was as easy to please as he was.

"Wash your hands first!" Mouse shrieked, dashing after the couple. As if she was one to talk about cleanliness that second. Which reminded me, I still had to ask her what she said to make Gwen throw flour on her.

"Mouse, wait up!" I followed my friend and while Gwen and Peter were distracted I asked her what was on her mind.

She gave me a shy smile. "We were talking about boys."

"Oh? Do tell me more," I prompted. Boys, after all, were not a commonly discussed subject. Mouse was the kind of girl who thought boys had cooties until she was twelve. She had her first crush when she was thirteen, and had only had a couple more since then … Or at least, there had been only a couple instances where she let something slip and then Gwen would play the concerned older sister card or I would play the best friend card in order to get her to spill more information. She wasn't the kind of person who would freely talk about boys she had taken a fancy to. I suppose all the secrecy was simply because she was so shy sometimes.

"There is nothing more to say," Mouse told me. "Gwen asked if I liked any boys, and I said that I didn't. She called me a liar and threw the flour all over me. What a waste of flour!"

"So who is it?" I asked.

"Who is what?" Mouse asked, pretending she had no idea what I was talking about. Too bad she was a terrible liar.

"The boy you like! Spill! Out with his name!"

"There isn't a boy! I swear!" She really needed to work in her lying … Actually, on second thought, it was more fun this way.

"You _are_ going to tell me, Mouse Hans … Or else!" I threatened playfully.

"Never!" she played along. "I will never tell you as long as your threat is as empty as 'or else'!"

I was about to respond with a clever comeback (which probably wasn't really all that clever, even if I thought it was at the time) when Peter walked over to us and asked if we were going to stand there and chat all day. We quickly parted, with Mouse going to work in the kitchen and me in the shop.

I _was_ going to find out who it was that caught my best friend's eye.

"Girls," Peter sighed, "what am I going to do with them?"

I just grinned and hummed a song.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**HauntedApple**_ for originally reviewing this chapter_**,**_ _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing since then and and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	6. 1-6 Day of the Picnic

_**Part 1: The Royals**_

_**Chapter 6: Day of the Picnic**_

_The Second of June_

**-0-**

Sunday came quickly enough, although Mouse refused to tell me the name of who she liked. (I did have a short list of suspects, however. The boy who lived across the street was at the top of the list.)

I got out of bed early in the morning. Early as in I still had a long time before the sun would even rise. Sure, I could have tried to go back to sleep, seeing as I was the first one up in the house; I just didn't want to because I kept having a dream where I was running from people my subconscious had simply labeled "the bad guys." We were in my old house next door, and the faster I ran in order to escape the said bad guys, the slower I became. And then, just as one of the bad guys was just about to catch me, the dream would start all over.

It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the dark. I grabbed a brush and pulled it through my hair, getting rid of the crazy bedhead I knew I must have had. It felt nice to run a brush through my hair.

When I finished brushing my waist-length hair, I set down the brush and gently grabbed my wooden box. I didn't need the light of day to to know exactly where the center of the large red rose was or where each leaf was painted. But right then I didn't feel like just looking at the outside of the box, so I opened it up. And right there inside my precious box was a necklace unlike any other. The centerpiece of the necklace was a large ruby carved into the shape of a delicate rose. (How someone ever managed to carve the stone into such a shape always boggled my mind.) To the left and right of the ruby were two big emeralds shaped into leaves. The chain of the necklace went from one emerald to the other and was gold.

I wish I could say that I stopped wondering where Mother had gotten such an expensive necklace, but I'd be lying. I just didn't spend all my time wondering anymore. I had more important things to worry about.

I closed the box, seeing just enough of the necklace to satisfy me before returning it to its spot on my nightstand. So as to not wake up Mouse, I then quietly made my way away from the nightstand and went through my wardrobe to find a dress. I managed to find my favorite dress in the dark, a decent pale green one that fit me perfectly. It was hopefully good enough to be seen with royalty in.

Taking a quick glance at Mouse, I left the room and went down into the kitchen. A peach sitting on the countertop looked delicious, so I ate it. There were plenty of others, so I doubted that one peach would be missed.

Once the peach was finished off, I read my book, _The History of the Spelikan Royals_, by candlelight.

Peter was the first one up after me. Looking out the windows, I saw that the first light of day was beginning to fill the sky. Peter grunted something along the lines of "good morning" before grabbing some bread and left for work.

Gwen came down a few minutes later, rushing out of the shop without even looking at me. I wondered what in the world she was in such a hurry for before realizing that Peter didn't have work. Oops.

Before Gwen and Peter came back, Mouse walked into the kitchen. "Morning," she said while yawning. "I thought I heard Gwen. Where is she?"

I smirked. "Chasing after Peter."

"Again?" Mouse groaned. "You'd think that he'd remember that he gets every other Sunday off eventually." I shrugged in response, not wanting to tell my sleepy friend that I also forgot.

Eventually Peter walked back in the kitchen grinning, holding a panting Gwen in his arms. "What a way to start the day!" Peter said.

"You can put me down now, Peter," Gwen huffed between pants.

Peter winked at his wife. "Nah, I think I like you just where you are." Gwen just squirmed in his arms. "Oh, fine," he relented.

Once Gwen was back on her feet, she got herself some water and gulped it down. As soon as she regained her breath, she chastised Peter about forgetting his day off. "And next time, I'm not going to chase after you!"

Peter laughed and hugged his wife. "Of course you will. Cat here sure didn't, even though she was up when I left." Darn. He wasn't supposed to mention that …

"I was reading, and therefore distracted," I tried to defend myself, but Gwen motioned with her hand that there was no need for me to continue, which was fine with me.

The rest of the morning wasn't nearly as eventful. Mouse used the peaches to make a pie and then got ready for the picnic later. Gwen and Peter, who weren't going to join us, left the house before Mouse and I did to do some shopping. ("Do I have to?" Peter whined, to which Gwen replied, "Grow up.")

Mouse was looking nice in a burnt orange dress and her hair left down. "Are you ready?" she asked me after she wrapped the pie up and placed it in a basket along with a few extra plates and eating utensils.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said. And with that, we left the shop.

**-0-**

The gardens were drop-dead beautiful. I was too busy looking at all the plants to notice that Amity and Arvin had walked over to us and took the basket from Mouse.

"It smells delicious!" Amity said, making me turn around.

"Oh, hello Amity! How are you? And Arvin! It's great seeing you again!" I quickly said, greeting the people I had quickly accepted as my friends.

"So you like the gardens, Cat?" Arvin asked, amused by the excited (and ridiculous) look that must have been on my face.

"Like them? I _love_ them!"

"Hey, why don't we go back to the group and eat? I'm starving!" Amity suggested, and we agreed.

"And she thinks _I'm_ the one who can never get food off my mind!" Arvin whispered.

The "group" turned out to be a little girl and a few servants who looked happy to be watching her. A large blanket was already laid out with two baskets of food sitting next to the girl.

"Arvin! Amity!" the girl said, jumping up and walking over to us. She had the same light brown hair and green eyes that the twins had. "Are these your friends?"

"Yep. She's Cat and she's Mouse," Arvin said, pointing us out as he introduced us. "This little girl –"

"I'm not that little anymore! I'm eleven!"

"– is Sarina, our sister."

"We had to get special permission to take her into the gardens," Amity said to us. "That's why Penny and Robert are here. I hope you two don't mind." Mouse and I both said we didn't mind them at all.

We didn't talk for long. Everyone, even Penny and Robert, was eating something from the baskets. I had a little bit of fruit and a turkey sandwich, which was yummy.

Sarina was absolutely adorable. Almost immediately after we started eating, she turned to me and said, "I like you. We should be friends." And then she giggled. What made her just like me so quickly, I have no idea. But I went with it and tried not to give her any reason to dislike me. I found out that it was very easy to make her laugh, and not just a fake "will you please shut up right now" laugh, but a genuine laugh.

Mouse, on the other hand, was talking about her favorite recipe for banana-nut muffins. Arvin looked absolutely enthralled with everything Mouse said about food, while Amity just rolled her eyes at her brother and began to tell me about one of her little misadventures with Arvin. This one involved her dress getting caught on fire. I winced at the thought of flames burning up her beautiful (and no doubt expensive) dress.

It didn't take long before we all began to devour Mouse's peach pie. It. Was. Incredible. (Like always.) Even Sarina was silent for a moment so she could eat it.

"I think I love you," Arvin said playfully to Mouse right before taking another bite of pie.

"It's his stomach that's speaking," Amity clarified. "My taste buds are saying the same thing."

Sarina turned to the twins. "You didn't tell me that their pie was _this_ good!"

Amity argued that she did, while Arvin snuck another slice. Well, "snuck" is the wrong word. We all knew he was taking a slice, but he said, "You did not see me take more pie. You saw nothing."

Before we knew it, all the pie was gone. We cleaned everything up a bit before I asked Amity a question I had been eager to ask the entire time. "Now how about that tour you promised us?"

"I'm ready whenever you are," she said, standing up and brushing crumbs off her dress.

"I'm ready now!"

Everyone stood up. Penny and Robert each grabbed a basket and Mouse grabbed hers before we headed towards the entrance to what I guessed to be a hedge maze.

"Come on! This way!" Sarina said, grabbing my hand and rushing to the entrance.

"Wait up!" Arvin called after Sarina, who dropped my hand and pouted as she tapped her food impatiently on the ground. Arvin took Sarina's hand and said, "Come on, we have a lot to see and we don't want to get separated."

"I know the way through," Sarina said. A second later she added, "I think."

"My point exactly."

"Your Highnesses, we're going to stay out here," Penny said as we walked into the maze.

"Okay, if you want to," Sarina quickly said. I think she was happy that the people that had promised to basically babysit her were allowing her to have a little fun without an adult breathing down her neck.

We kept walking into the maze. Amity and Arvin obviously had it memorized. Arvin took the lead, with Sarina at his side. Mouse and Amity followed just a couple steps behind, and I was always one step behind Mouse and Amity. I enjoyed studying the flowers planted in random spots. Perhaps too much, though, because I was looking down one second, and when I looked back up I didn't see anyone in front of me. I turned back around, but there was no one there either.

Oh, just great. I was lost in a maze.

I walked around a corner and tripped. I pushed myself up and looked at what I tripped on. I was surprised to see it was a tree root. And right in front of me was the tree and a dead end behind it.

I was about to turn back around and try to find my way out of the maze by myself, but I spotted an object wedged between a branch and the trunk of the tree. I walked over to the tree. The object was a tiny clear glass bottle. Inside, it looked like there was paper.

I grabbed the bottle and popped it open. I pulled out a folded piece of paper and saw that there was something written on the outside of the note. The handwriting was very neat and read: _To he or she who finds this_.

Despite being lost, I was very interested in whatever was written on the note. And not just that one note, but the others that were also in the jar.

I stuck the piece of paper back into the bottle with the others. I looked at the tree, memorizing what it looked like. Then I carefully stepped over all the roots of the tree and walked away with the little bottle in my hand.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**HauntedApple **_and _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	7. 1-7 The Exit

_**Part 1: The Royals**_

_**Chapter 7: The Exit**_

_The Second of June_

**-0-**

I wandered through the maze for a couple minutes, thinking that I might have been able to find my way to the exit by myself. I couldn't find it because I was walking in circles. Somehow, I kept ending back up at the same tree over and over again. Any thoughts I might have had about the bottle in my hand were soon pushed to the back of my mind as I became more frustrated. I didn't stop to look at the small bunches of flowers that I sometimes passed (which must have been the same bunch, seeing as I was going in circles).

"Hello?" I finally shouted, hoping someone would be able to hear me. "Anyone there? Help!"

I waited a second for a response, but none came.

"Can anyone hear me?" I tried again.

What was that? I thought I heard something. "What? Is someone there?" I yelled at loudly as I could.

"Need some help?" a voice shouted back at me.

I turned around in circles, trying to find out which direction the voice was coming from. "Help would be greatly appreciated," I answered. At least the person sounded like they were relatively close by.

The person then told me to stay where I was, which wouldn't be much of a problem considering how I kept ending up in the same place anyway.

I looked at the little glass bottle in my hand while I waited for my rescuer to show up. Its neck was very short and the bottle's total height was a bit more than the length of my hand. When I wrapped my and around it at its widest point, the bottle was just big enough so my fingers couldn't wrap entirely around it.

I resisted the urge to open up that bottle right then and there to look at what was written on the small pieces of paper. I planned on waiting until I got home to study them.

My dress just so happened to have a pocket the perfect size for the small bottle. I normally didn't get dresses with pockets, but the one I was wearing fit me well, so I got the dress and just left the pockets unused. But for some reason, I found myself slipping that bottle into my pocket. There was an unflattering bump where the bottle was, but I didn't really mind.

I was still waiting in the spot where the dead-end where my tree (I had started calling the tree _my_ tree) met the path when I saw someone I assumed was the person who was going to help me find my way out of the maze. It was a guy maybe my age or a bit older. His hair was dark brown and looked in desperate need of a trim, seeing it was at an awkward length that covered his eyes. His clothes, while they might have been of decent quality, were covered in dirt in some places as if he had been planting flowers or something. It was a likely considering where we were.

"Are you lost?" he asked as he came closer.

I nodded in response. "I've been wandering in circles."

"I see. Which entrance did you use?" he asked. After I described it, he said, "Okay. Your friends are probably waiting by the other entrance. I can take you there."

"Oh, would you, please? That would be great."

"Right this way, then." And with that he began to walk away. Quickly. I rushed after him, determined not to get lost again, so soon after being found. When I caught up, we were both quiet for a moment as we walked.

"Nice weather we're having," my guide said in an obvious attempt to break the silence. _Left turn._

"Very," I said. _Go straight_.

I suppose neither of us could think of anything else to say about that subject because the silence returned between us for a moment. In those few quiet seconds it struck me just how well this guy knew his way through the maze. He didn't hesitate for a second when we walked into a fork in the path. The maze wasn't exactly small, either. _Turn left_.

"Have you memorized the path to the exit?" I found myself asking. _Go right._

He grinned. "Actually, I have. I've walked through here many, many times." _Right again._

How interesting. "How many times did you get lost here before you learned the correct path?" _Straight._

"It took awhile. It didn't help that I refused to have anyone help me to learn the way." _Left again._

"You wanted to feel the satisfaction of knowing that you learned the correct path all by yourself." It wasn't a question. _Continue straight._

"Precisely. And once I memorized the correct path, I began to explore all the other paths, trying to figure out if I could return to the path or if there was another correct way through."

"Is there?" I quickly asked. "Another way through this maze, I mean."

"No, just this one. But there is one place where you could make an extra turn and then return back to the path."

"It sounds like you have the _entire_ maze memorized," I joked.

"I pretty much do."

"That must have taken a very long time."

"It sure did. But I love this place, so the time I spent wandering was never wasted."

We waked past another bunch of flowers and I realized that I had stopped paying attention to which turns I was making. I would probably get desperately lost if I tried looking for my tree again.

My guide stopped walking and turned to me. "Make a right turn and then go left and you'll find the exit."

"Okay," I said, unsure of why he wasn't just taking me all of the way to the exit. "Thank you for helping me."

"It was my pleasure helping such a pretty damsel in distress," he said, causing me to blush. "Have a nice day."

"You too." With that, he turned back around and walked the way we had just come from. I watched him go around the corner before I headed off to the exit.

"Cat! We were about to go back in there to look for you!" Mouse said as soon as I stepped out of the maze.

Amity gave me a guilty look. "Sorry we lost you. One minute you were there, and the next …" Amity made a quick hand motion as Sarina said, "Poof!"

"Don't worry about it," I tried to laugh at my friends. "I'm here now."

The rest of the afternoon went by all too quickly. We roamed through the rest of the gardens and told jokes and just had a really nice time. I didn't tell them of anything that had happened in the maze. They just assumed that I had been lucky and managed to find my way out by myself somehow, I suppose.

The gardener who had helped me though the maze and the bottle in my pocket were still on my mind when I got home.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**HauntedApple **_and _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren

:


	8. 1-8 Inside the Bottle

_**Part 1: The Royals**_

_**Chapter 8: Inside the Bottle**_

_The Second of June_

**-0-**

I immediately went upstairs into my room. It was Gwen and Peter's turn to cook dinner that night, and Mouse was in the kitchen, reading at the table. Gwen had bought everyone a new book while she went out shopping.

My new book, which was a story about a princess getting kidnapped at birth and growing up thinking another woman was her mother, was left unopened next to my wooden box as I plopped down on my bed. I pulled out the little bottle out of my pocket and tried to pull out the cork stopper, but it was stuck. I probably jammed it in too much when I had opened it in the maze. Now, I was deadly afraid of breaking the bottle by dropping it or sending it flying through the air if I wasn't careful while trying to pull the cork out. I really wanted read whatever was on the papers, so I chose to tug a tiny bit harder on the cork. Thankfully, it only took me a few tries before I had the cork piece in one hand in the little glass bottle in the other hand.

Victorious, I smiled and tipped the bottle, dumping the papers out onto my bed. There were three, folded in half and tightly rolled up so they could all fit. I unfolded one of the papers and took a quick peep at what was on the inside. It was a letter! And so were the others, I quickly discovered.

Did I really want to read some stranger's letters? I stared at the paper in my hands for a moment, not even reading it. I wondered if I was even allowed to read them. Then again, they were addressed to whoever found them, which could include me ….

Curiosity killed the cat. I chose to read them. I found the small dates written in the corner of each letter and grabbed the oldest of the letters. To my surprise, it had only been written a month ago. Then again, had it been _years_ old there would have been no chance of the paper still being in such perfect condition.

Just like the handwriting on the backside of each piece of paper, the inside was written in very tiny, but still very neat handwriting. I began reading.

**-0-**

_May 3_

_To he or she who finds this:_

_Have you ever had the urge do to something reckless that may or may not land you in a load of trouble? I experienced this feeling just the other day, so to distract myself I went to my room and wrote a letter to no one in particular. When I finished writing, I burned it._

_Today I was reading a book in my free time. It is about pirates, desert islands, and letters in a bottle. I thought about the burnt letter and thought, "What if I had stuck that letter into a bottle? If someone had found it, would they have replied?"_

_And now, simply because I am curious and have a few spare minutes, I am writing a letter to place in a bottle. Not very original, maybe, but it will be interesting if anyone replies._

_I suppose I might as well tell you a little about myself now. I am seventeen, but my birthday is quickly approaching. I am dreading that day almost as much as I am looking forward to it. I am sure that my mother will expect me to start looking for a wife. I know no women I would like to kiss, let alone marry!_

_What else? I am the eldest of my siblings. I enjoy looking at the stars after a long, stressful day. I like the color green, but hate the color orange._

_Is that enough information about myself to ask that you tell me a bit about yourself?_

_I must go now, but I really do hope that someone finds this letter. (But if you are reading this, then I someone – you – must have found it!)_

_Sincerely,_

_Bird_

**-0-**

Was Bird actually his name? I couldn't say that I had ever met anyone with that name. Still, I was very interested and picked up the next letter.

**-0-**

_May 14_

_To whoever finds this letter:_

_I checked the bottle yesterday to see if anyone wrote a response, but it was just how I left it. It was slightly disappointing, I must say. Good things come to those who wait, though. I just hope that is true._

_I must confess, my name isn't Bird, as I signed my last letter. It is my sister's nickname for me. She has called me that ever since she was a little girl._

_My life is chaotic as of right now. There is so much for me to do right now but no one seems to understand that, especially my brother. He, aided by my crazy sister, likes to leave little "surprises" for me everywhere. Two days ago he left some horse dung outside the door of my room. Today he stole all of my ink and left me a couple of bowls of fruit juice. I had to hunt him down (which took awhile, considering that he wasn't in any of his usual hiding places) and make him show me where my ink was hidden. He had his accomplice hide it in her room!_

_Tell me, do you know of any troublemaking teams? If you do, what are they like? I am beginning to wonder if I am the only one who is being ganged up on by a mad duo._

_My little sister calls for me, so I must go. I shall write again soon, even if there is no one to read my messages yet._

_Sincerely,_

_Bird_

**-0-**

I knew it! "Bird" was a nickname. And now I also knew that Bird had a brother and sister. I wondered what the brother was like after reading only two of the tricks he played on Bird (What kind of person plays pranks with horse dung?) and why the sister nicknamed her brother after an animal.

I grabbed the last of the letters and began reading.

**-0-**

_May 30_

_To whoever bothers with this letter:_

_Still no one has found my letters. Am I just writing letters to myself at this point? I hope not. I do hope that someone will find them (or should I say these?) soon._

_My eighteenth birthday had now passed. My family and family friends had a cake made. It was a beautiful cake, but I will admit that I thought it tasted terrible. The cake was too dry and bland for my taste. (Do you happen to know of a place that has excellent cakes, by any chance? My brother says that he recently heard of a good bakery, but I have forgotten what he said it is called.) There was a party that lasted all day and into the night._

_And I have been wondering: Does reaching my eighteenth birthday really make me a man? I do not feel any different. But my parents still insist that because I am now a man I must have more responsibilities. That is one of the reasons that it took me so long to write again. Or did it only seem like a long time to me?_

_I shall try to write again soon. Hopefully I will have a reply to my letters next time I check. It is never a bad thing to think positively._

_Sincerely,_

_Bird_

**-0-**

I smiled at the mention of his brother hearing of a good bakery. Obviously the brother had to be a good person, I jokingly thought. And then I began to wonder if the brother or Bird had been a recent customer of our bakery.

I didn't sit on my bed thinking about all that I had just read for very long. There were all the materials for a letter already in my room, so I grabbed them and began writing.

**-0-**

_June 2_

_To Bird:_

_You shall be delighted to find that your letters have been found, I think. And best yet, I am replying to them (as you obviously see). I only hope that you will enjoy reading this letter as I had enjoyed yours._

_In response to your first letter, where you asked to know a little about me, here are some basic facts: I am a seventeen-year-old girl and only child. My favorite color is green as well, although I dislike yellow._

_As for knowing of any troublemaking teams like that of your siblings, I cannot say that I know of any. My friend and I could have been labeled as mischievous when we were little, but I cannot ever say we stole ink or left dung in doorways!_

_Regarding your third letter, I can happily write that I do know of an excellent bakery, and probably the same one your brother told you of. _The Hans Family Bakery_ is a wonderful little place. You absolutely must try their cakes._

_Also, I do not see how one day alone can make the difference between being a child and a man. Some "men" your age still act like children, so they should still be called boys. _

_I am curious about a few things. One: why does your sister call you Bird? Two: why did you choose to hide the bottle in a maze? I think it will take me a long time to find the same tree and then find my way out of the maze._

**-0-**

I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to add on to the letter. "_Sincerely_," I wrote, and then realized that I had no idea how I wanted to sign the letter. Would I sign as Catharine? Or as Cat?

I looked up from my letter and glanced around the room. My eyes fell upon a familiar object and I knew how I wanted to sign.

"_Rose_."

If he was going to give a name that would hide his identity, then so would I. Too many people knew me as Cat for that nickname to be usable. Upon seeing my box, I decided to use one of my mother's many nicknames for me. After "My Little Princess," it had always been one of her favorite things to call me. Rose Derose.

"_P.S. I hope you had a happy birthday._"

I let the ink dry as I put up any unused supplies and looked around the room for a place to put Bird's letters. I decided to put them at the bottom of the only drawer on my nightstand. I only kept some spare change and some hair ribbons in the drawer anyway.

As soon as the ink dried, I folded my letter in half once and rolled up up. It was dropped into the glass bottle and then the cork was stuck back in. I was about to slip the bottle into my pocket when I had a random idea.

I placed the little bottle on my bed and pulled out a piece of green ribbon that I sometimes used as a hair tie. I then tied a bow around the neck of the bottle.

The little bottle was finally slipped back into my pocket. I walked out of my room and went downstairs.

"Hey there," Peter said. "Ready for dinner?" I nodded.

"Good. We were just about to call you down," Gwen said.

We sat at the table, talked about our day and ate our food, which was tasty as always. The Hans girls sure did know how to cook – no doubt about that!

Not once did I mention the letters or anything else that happened in the maze. All of that was part of a secret I wanted to keep to myself, if just for a little while.

The letters were among the first of many secrets I would eventually come to have. But whereas the letters were harmless, not all of my other secrets were.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**HauntedApple **_and _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	9. 1-9 Evening Walks

_**Part 1: The Royals**_

_**Chapter 9: Evening Walks**_

_The Second of June_

**-0-**

I helped to clean everything after dinner because I hadn't helped cook anything. It was a little tradition here for anyone who hadn't cooked dinner to clean up. I didn't mind the chore at all.

When all the dishes were washed and put away, I left the kitchen and went back upstairs. I stared down the hallway for a moment. The first door on the right was the study. The next room was my bedroom. The first room on the left was a little storage room and the next room was the bathroom. At the end of the hall was the master bedroom, where Gwen and Peter slept.

Right then, Mouse was probably in the study, so I opened the door and walked in. She was sitting in a chair reading by the window.

"Hey," I said, making her look up from the pages.

"Hello." She grabbed a scrap piece of paper and placed it in the pages to mark her spot before shutting the book.

"Do you want to go on a short walk with me? I want to get some fresh air."

"Sure, just as long as we get home before dark." Good. That meant we had about thirty minutes. "Any place in mind?"

"Not really," I replied. "Come on, we'll just go once around the block."

We went downstairs and stepped outside. I decided to steer us left.

"When is a door not a door?" I asked out of nowhere.

"When it's … I don't know. When?"

I grinned and was about to tell her the punchline when I passed a stall cleaning up for the day. "Mouse, look!" I grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer. There were some hats for sale. Big, floppy, hideously colored hats with equally ugly balls of fabric that I think were supposed to be flowers were the last thing sitting out. I let go of Mouse's wrist and took a hat, placing it on top of my head.

"How do I look?" I asked playfully.

The man working at the stall replied, "It brings out your eyes." It did nothing of the sort, but I didn't blame him for lying. A guy has to make a living somehow, after all.

Mouse laughed and lifted the hat off my head and set it back where I pulled it from. "Much better," she said. The hat man watched us walk away without saying anything.

"You never told me when a door isn't a door," Mouse pointed out as we walked.

"It isn't a door when it's … _ajar_."

Mouse rolled her eyes. "Oh, ha ha. When it's _a_ jar. Very funny … not."

I shrugged. "I thought it was kind of clever, but whatever."

Every once in awhile we'd stop by a stand that was closing down to look at the merchandise. It was becoming a game to see who could find the ugliest thing being sold. While nothing was quite as bad as the hat had been, Mouse managed to spot an abstract paining of something with large eyes and buck teeth. We couldn't decide if it was of a woman or a donkey, I am sorry to say.

We tuned back around soon after finding that paining and ran into a familiar face along the way.

"Hello there, Jeffery!" I said to the boy. Jeffery lived across the street from us. He was the one I suspected that Mouse had a crush on. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks. And how are you girlies doing?" he asked.

Jeffery had long blond hair that he kept tied back and blue eyes. He was kind and cute, and if Mouse _did_ like him, as I suspected, then I sure wouldn't disapprove.

"We're both doing pretty well," I replied as Mouse said, "Really well, thanks."

"That's good," Jeffery said. He glanced at the sky. "What are you doing out right now? I mean, it's starting to get pretty late."

"Mouse and I are on a walk. We were just heading back home."

"I just finished running an errand, so I'm not doing anything right now. May I walk you two home?" His father was a merchant, so Jeffery sometimes delivered things to customers if they lived close by. That was probably the kind of errand he had just finished.

Mouse smiled, showing off her pearly whites. "Sure."

I reckoned it _must_ have been Jeffery that she liked. We knew him as children, when Mouse had still thought boys had cooties. He then left for a long time to go on various trips with his father, so we didn't see as much of him. While he was away on those trips, Mouse decided that maybe boys weren't all that bad. Despite her daydreams of a fairytale prince sweeping her off her feet, she only had a few crushes because the boys we were around were, quite frankly, far from princes.

Jeffery had decided only a few months previously to stop going on those trading trips. That would have caused Mouse to see the boy we had once played with more often.

Oh yes, Mouse definitely liked Jeffery.

Considering the slow pace Jeffery insisted we take, it was supposed to take us about five minutes to get back home. If it had been midday, then it would have taken us awhile to maneuver around people who normally clogged the streets. However, it wasn't midday, so there was close to nobody still in the streets.

Mouse was explaining the recent success of the bakery when I heard a shout behind us. It sounded fairly distant, but I looked nonetheless. I saw a riderless horse charging at full speed towards us. I immediately reacted by pulling Mouse and Jeffery (who were too involved in their conversation to have noticed anything) out of the middle of the street towards the side. We were then well out of the horse's way, but there was one other person who hadn't noticed the horse or the person't shout. It was a lady trying on one of the ugly hats we spotted earlier. I suppose she had taken a few steps backwards so she could see the whole hat's reflection in a mirror the hat-man had produced from somewhere.

Shouting, while it would have caught the lady's attention, would not have made her move out of the way fast enough. The first thing that popped into my mind was to simply push her out of harm's way. That's exactly what I did, making us fall over onto the ground a safe distance from the horse, which charged by one second later right where the lady had been standing.

I didn't watch the horse run off after it passed. Instead, I quickly got up from the ground and helped the person I had pushed onto the ground up. "I am so sorry," I said, offering my hand to help her up. "That horse was … You were … Are you okay? I am so sorry."

She took my hand. "Thank you so much. I can't believe I didn't notice the horse … Cat?"

The lady who I had just saved pulled off the very hat I had tried on earlier and I saw that she was none other than Amity. I hadn't even noticed before then! I was shocked.

"Cat!" I heard Mouse say as she and Jeffery came over. "You crazy, brave, amazing … Amity! What are you doing here? And with that hat?" The look on her face was priceless, I tell you.

"Hello, Mouse. I was just wandering through here when I saw these hats and I was trying to decide whether or not to buy one as a gift for one of the ladies at court that I don't care for."

"You _would_ do something like that, Amity. I should have guessed," I said, walking Amity back to the stall where the hat was being sold. She ended up buying it.

"So, who are you?" Amity asked Jeffery.

"Jeffery Swift. Pleased to meet you."

"Nice to meet you Jeffery. I'm Amity Fallance."

"As in _the_ Amity Fallance?" he asked and she nodded. "Interesting."

Amity shrugged. "Besides my title, I'm no one special. Although I really need to get back to my parents. If I stay out much longer I think they may send guards after me! They've done it before."

"We don't want that happening!" Mouse said.

We all exchanged farewells and Amity turned to me and said that she would try to visit me soon with a thank you gift. I tried to insist that she shouldn't give me a gift, but she could be very stubborn when she had her heart set on something.

We parted ways and Jeffery, Mouse, and I walked the short distance back to our house at dusk. It was dark by the time we got home.

"It was a pleasure to see you again, Jeffery," I said. "You need to stop by the bakery sometime soon and see us again."

"Will do, Catharine."

"And for the hundredth time: just call me Cat!"

He just smirked at my demand and then turned to Mouse. "Goodnight Mouse."

"Goodnight Jeffery," Mouse replied with a slight smile.

And that was it. Jeffery waved goodbye as he walked away from us and we waved back. We watched him go to his own house right across the street before we turned to go into our own abode.

"Today was very eventful, to say the least," I said while holding the door open for Mouse.

"You could say that again." She waited a second for me to walk in after her, but I stayed outside. "You coming in?"

I shook my head and said, "I'm going to sit here for a little while longer." I pointed to a nearby bench as I spoke. "Go ahead and get ready for bed without me."

Mouse was hesitant before speaking again. "Okay," she said slowly. "I'll be dead asleep in five minutes, so I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Mouse," I replied softly. I gave my friend a quick hug and then closed the door. Through the window, I watched her head into the kitchen.

I didn't walk to the nearest bench; I never intended to. I walked in its general direction but continued past it. Moving quickly, I went back to the gardens. They were open to the public at all times.

I glanced over my shoulder back at the house. Mouse really would be asleep in five minutes, and Gwen and Peter would have gone to sleep as soon as they heard footsteps walking up the stairs. (Yep. They were _that_ trusting of us.)

My fingers brushed the smooth glass of the small bottle in my pocket. I knew I was crazy for thinking I could return the bottle that night, but I didn't really care. The bottle would go back where I found it. Now, that would require finding my way through the maze … In the dark … When I couldn't even find my when through the maze in the daytime to begin with.

I kept walking, though. I could be as stubborn as Amity sometimes. If I wanted to put my letter where I first found the bottle – and I sure did – then there was nothing stopping me.

The streets were mostly empty, but I wasn't the least bit afraid that some stranger would come up and kidnap me. Things like that were very uncommon where I was. If I were on the other side of the district I lived in, however, I wouldn't have been caught dead walking in the streets at night. Sad, but true.

The gardens eventually came into view and then I found the entrance to the maze. I stopped walking right before I entered. A plan was what I desperately needed. Quickly, too, or else I would chicken out. Would I use a pattern of left and right turns to find my way through to the tree? Or would it be easier to wander aimlessly through and hope that I make the correct turns? I almost wished that I had brought bread crumbs or something to leave a trail behind me.

That's when the idea hit me: I would just follow the wall on the right side. Hopefully, I'd either find the tree or the way out of the maze. If the case of the latter, I'd just turn around and go back into the maze, following the right wall once more.

I stuck out my right arm so I could just feel the leaves and things on the right wall and began to run. I didn't know how long I wanted to be stuck in there, but I sure wasn't going to let myself stay there all night, lost and looking like a complete fool.

At first, as I was working my way through the maze, I refused to let my right hand move away from the wall. I even walked all the way down dead ends that I knew were the wrong ones so I wouldn't have to move away from the wall. But I quickly picked up on the patterns and cut down on the time I was wasting.

Eventually, I stopped running for a minute to catch my breath. I took off my shoes, not caring that my feet would get a little dirty. Shoes in hand, I began to run again. I hoped that I would find the tree soon. Each right turn I took only made me wish that I would run into the correct dead end even more! (Who would have thought that I was actually looking for a dead end? Normal people would look for an exit. But I was _far_ from normal.)

I peered down another dead end. Out of habit I almost ran away, but I quickly stopped running and tuned around. There, right in front of me was a tree! It was the same height and the branches bent the same way as the one I had found earlier that day. I hadn't seen any other trees in the maze, anyway, so there was no doubt in my mind that I had found the tree I was looking for.

I walked over to it slowly. I dropped my shoes onto the ground and dug my hand into the my pocket to pull out the little bottle. I fixed the bow I had tied around its neck before carefully placing the bottle in the same spot I had found it. I took one victorious step back to admire my work. I took getting pitifully lost, keeping a few secrets, and a lot of running around in the dark to find and return the bottle. I wondered how long it would take for Bird to respond.

Then I yawned. Normally after a nice run I would feel wide awake, but right then sleep was on my mind. I walked back up to the tree and sat on the ground, my back to the tree trunk. I planned to only take a short rest. I would just close my eyes for a little bit and then I'd get up a couple minutes later and run my way to the exit of the maze. Then I'd put my shoes back on and walk home where I would fall asleep again in my nice, warm bed. In the morning I would get up, clean up and then go to work in the bakery like I always did.

Yeah, that was a nice, simple plan. But since when was anything simple?

I slowly blinked and it occurred to me that I was _really_ sleepy. I didn't want to get up and walk home. I got as comfortable as I possibly could and eventually fell asleep right there in the maze.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**HauntedApple **_and _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	10. 1-10 You Are Dreaming

_**Part 1: The Royals**_

_**Chapter 10: You Are Dreaming**_

_The Third of June_

**-0-**

I was falling from the sky. Twisting and turning wildly, I had no control whatsoever. My hair kept getting in my face, making it so I couldn't see how far I was – or how close, for that matter – to the ground. It was absolutely terrifying. Someone started screaming. It didn't surprise me when one second later I realized the person screaming was me. I closed my mouth but resumed screaming seconds later. I kept falling … and falling … and falling. It seemed like I was just going to fall forever and never hit the ground.

And then I wasn't falling anymore.

I pushed my tangled hair out of my face so I could take a good look at my surroundings. They were no stranger than me falling out of the sky. After all, I was laying on my stomach on a cloud, and that wasn't even the craziest part about it! There were two suns in the sky and the ground far below me was white. The cloud I was sitting on was green.

"You are dreaming," a voice said next to me.

I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked in the direction of where the voice came from. It was a woman who was probably in her lower- to mid-twenties. Her hair, which was pitch black, was long enough to fall a little below her shoulders. Her eyes were just as inky black as her hair. The dress she wore was white and she wore no jewelry except for a necklace with a pendant of a rose carved from a black stone with twin emeralds on either side on a thin silver chain. The necklace looked vaguely familiar.

"Hello," she said. "I hope you don't mind that I stopped your free-fall. It didn't look like you were having very much fun."

If she was right and I was in fact dreaming, what in the world was I supposed to say? "_Hello, person from my dream_"? Or how about "_Thanks for saving me from my dream_"? I opted to simply stare at her.

"My name is Wiltera. Wiltera Vinal, to be precise."

"Er, hello?" I said. "I'm Catharine."

"I know," was all she said. Wiltera had a large smile on her face. The smile didn't reach her eyes.

"How would you know?" I asked.

"You are dreaming." That didn't seem like a very good answer to my question, but before I could ask it again she continued, "What do you feel like doing? I feel like flying."

Wiltera stood up on the green cloud and then took one step and started to plummet to the ground. I was about to look away so I wouldn't have to see the dream-person hit the white ground, but a pair of inky black wings appeared on her back and she flew back up to me.

"Come fly with me, Catharine."

"I can't fly," I said. "I don't have any wings."

Wiltera laughed. "This is your dream. You can do anything you want with it."

"So all I have to do is want wings and I'll get them?" I asked and she nodded. I looked over my shoulder to get the best view I could possibly get of my back. Slowly but surely, a pair of white wings formed on my back. The feathers were of a pure white, the exact opposite of Wiltera's wings.

I marveled at the wings and allowed the to stretch out to their fullest. I shook them out and the color changed from white to a red the shame shade of my hair. After shaking my wings again, the feathers became a shade of brown the same color as my eyes. I didn't need to shake out my wings again to make them change to sky blue, then black, and then orange. I finally settled on emerald green.

"Now take a step forward," Wiltera said. "Fly and I will show you more."

One small step off the green cloud later, I was falling. Again. Only this time I had wings to use. I flew over to Wiltera and she clapped. "Good. This way now!"

I followed the flying woman. "I can do anything I want with my dream, right?" I called out.

"Yes!" she responded.

I pointed to the empty air next to me and a large bird with feathers of every color appeared. I then motioned to the ground and a blue stream of water cut its way through the white land. A white horse that I saw running around gained brown stripes.

"Down here!" I heard Wiltera say. She dove down towards a flower patch and landed gracefully in a bare spot without flowers. I tried to do the same, but even in my dreams I wasn't perfect at everything. I landed on my face as my wings vanished from my back.

"Do something," she ordered me as I pushed myself up. In response I changed the flowers from white daisies to red roses. "Do something else." This time I made a leopard leap out from the roses. It circled around Wiltera before moving to my side. I studied the large cat in wonder. I had ever only seen a hand-drawn picture of one in a book, but the one standing next to me looked as real as any cat that I had seen when I was awake.

Wiltera told me to do something else, disrupting my observation of the animal. I tried to think of something else to do that would impress her and decided to change her hair color. Maybe if she was a golden blonde she wouldn't look so colorless, I figured.

Except her hair never changed.

Wiltera looked at me expectantly. "Are you going to stare at me for much longer or are you going to make something happen?"

I sighed. "Why can't I change you?"

She smirked. "I am not a figment of your imagination, Catharine Derose," she said, slowly walking even closer to me. "You did not make me up."

"What? Then what are you doing here?" I asked quietly.

Wiltera leaned over and whispered into my ear, "I am a friend. I can help you and you can help me." She backed away.

"How would we help each other?"

"You will see," she said and turned away from me. She spread her wings, but right before taking off she said, "You are dreaming, but I am not part of your dream."

I stood still and watched her fly into the distance until I could see her no more. Then I turned to the leopard next to me. "Is she real?" I asked the animal, scratching behind its ears. "Is she a fairy or witch? What does she want?" My hand dropped to my side. The leopard looked at me expectantly, but of course it didn't answer my many questions. "Animals do not speak any language of humans," I whispered to myself and smiled. "Talking animals? Now that's crazy talk."

The roses moved away as I began to walk towards them, making a narrow path. Left behind in the circle devoid of flowers was a statue of a leopard.

The path I made led me to a tree. I sat down and leaned against it.

**-0-**

I opened my eyes and looked around. Where was I? And then I recalled both the previous night and my dream.

Leaping up, I tried my best to brush off some of the dirt from my dress before moving over to where I had dropped my shoes. As soon as they were on my feet, I ran, trying to get back to the house. It was still very early in the morning. Maybe I would have enough time to clean up before anyone else woke up and noticed.

I quickly decided to follow the right wall of the maze. The strategy worked once, surely it would work again.

Turning around a corner, I found myself barreling into someone.

"I am so sorry!" I exclaimed, taking a step back. Then I realized who I had run into. "Oh! It's you!"

The guy who had led me out of the maze before was standing in front of me once more. He smirked. "Do you plan on getting lost in a maze every day?" he asked.

"I know exactly where I am, thank you," I responded and stepped around him. I ran off and then turned another corner. It obviously wasn't the correct way, because there was a dead end right in front of me. "Darn," I muttered. I would have to turn around and face him again. I hoped that he didn't notice that I was wearing the same dress as yesterday as I headed back in the direction I had come from.

My former guide was still standing where I left him. "Are you sure?" he asked me. I nodded and continued on. Apparently he decided that it would be fun to follow me, because I heard him behind me.

"I can show you the way out!" he said once he was next to me.

"I'm fine, thank you!"

"Obviously you are not, because you keep going into dead ends."

I chose not to respond to that.

"So tell me, what are you doing back in the maze so soon? And why are you wearing the same dress as you did yesterday?" he asked.

I am fairly sure I was blushing. I moved faster and said, "I wanted to get through the maze by myself. I fell asleep last night."

"Oh." He didn't say anything for a minute as I tried to find my way out of the maze. "What is your name?"

"Catharine," I said. "And who are you?"

"Jonathan. I am a squire. Are you sure you don't want me to show you the way? You just took another wrong turn."

I stopped. "Fine then. Will you please show me the way out, Jonathan-I-am-a-squire?"

"Gladly, Catharine. Take a left here."

"So if you don't mind me asking, Jonathan, how old are you?"

He looked at me and grinned, "I just turned eighteen." That caught my attention. "I'll become a knight soon. How old are you?"

"You should never ask a woman how old she is," I pointed out.

"Well I just did. Besides, you're obviously too young to be touchy about your age. Own up."

"Fair point. I'm seventeen." I rolled my eyes and then noticed how slowly we were walking in order to talk. "Can we hurry up a little?"

Jonathan sped up but then asked another question. "So, besides getting lost in mazes, what all do you like to do?"

"I like to read and go on long walks through mazes, but I work in a bakery, so free time can be hard to come by sometimes."

"Which bakery?" I told him. "Ah! I had a few of your pastries just the other day. They are very good!"

"Thank you, although I couldn't take all the credit. Ratana and Gwen are both wonderful cooks."

"So I've noticed," Jonathan said. "Here's the exit."

"Thank you again," I said, walking towards it.

"You are welcome. Now hurry up and get home to change out of that dress. It could use a very good washing."

I tried not to smile at that comment and failed as I hurried home, leaving Jonathan to watch me from where he stood in the maze.

Soon enough, I was standing outside the house. I quietly opened the door and attempted to get upstairs as quietly as possible. It was a relief to find that everyone was still sleeping. I went into my room and shifted the pillow and blanket on my bed a little. Then I grabbed my hairbrush and a clean dress and went into the bathroom. As I cleaned myself up, I couldn't help but think of my dream once more. I remembered every little detail from it, which was highly unusual for me. I wondered if Wiltera was a real person of if everything had simply been a dream.

In the case that she _had_ been a real person, magic must have been involved for her to have gotten into my dream. It wasn't like magic was unheard of, but it wasn't common at all in the Spelika. There was the occasional witch or wizard or fairy (by the way, fairies are just like you or me in most ways if you look past the wings and magic) or elf, but they were uncommon. Magical animals like unicorns and dragons existed, although they were also extremely rare.

I would just have to wait and see if there was magic involved with my dream.

I tried to shake the subject from my mind. I cleaned up and then went downstairs into the bakery.

No one in the house was up yet. I spent the rest of the early morning hours reading in the kitchen. When the time came for everyone else to wake up, I went upstairs and gently shook Mouse awake.

She looked at me groggily and then then yawned. "Mornin' Cat."

"Good morning, Mouse. Did you sleep well?"

"Yep. Sorry I didn't wait for you to get back inside before I fell asleep. We had a busy day and I just couldn't stay awake." Mouse stretched and got out of bed.

"Don't worry about it, really," I said and helped Mouse make her bed. "Now get ready for the day. I think we're supposed to make that birthday cake today."

"Thanks," she said when we finished with her bed. "And it's a wedding cake."

"Then it's only more important that you hurry up!" I said as I walked out of the room. I went over to Gwen and Peter's door and knocked on it.

"What?" Peter called out.

"Time to get up and at it, sleepyheads!" I responded.

Peter groaned and I heard Gwen ordered him to be quiet. "We'll be out in a minute," she said.

I smirked and went back into the kitchen to start prepping everything. A minute later Mouse was down and a little later Gwen and Peter were in the kitchen as well.

Peter gave his wife a peck on the lips and then said, "I'll see you girls later! Have a nice day!" We didn't start working until we heard the door close behind him.

Mouse started to rattle off a list of things we had to finish that day, and like good little workers, Gwen and I got right to work. I happily took the first shift in the shop to get out of the kitchen. Mouse had just about reached the point where she would start throwing the occasional spoon or fruit at us if we got in her way.

"This cake has to be perfect!" I heard her shout. "_Perfect_! It's for a _wedding_, for crying out loud!"

Oh, Mouse always got most stressed over wedding cakes. I smiled as I thought of when she made Gwen's wedding cake. The final product was incredible, but there had been a lot of yelling and I also had gotten a bruise on my right hand from when Mouse smacked me with a spoon.

Everyone in the house was looking forward to the day when Mouse stopped stressing over wedding cakes so much (except maybe Mouse herself). Working hard and doing an excellent job was one thing; freaking out was another thing completely.

I was so busy listening to Mouse go insane in the kitchen that I almost didn't notice two people walk into the bakery.

"Cat! Why do you never seem to be working on the kitchen?" Amity asked while Arvin said, "Why is Mouse yelling?"

"Oh, hello! Good morning!" I said. "I'd stay out of the kitchen, if I were you. Mouse goes a little crazy wen she makes wedding cakes."

"Well you might want to get her out here, then," Amity said. "We have some presents for you both."

"Oh, you need to stop the whole gift giving thing. You both have done a lot already." I crossed my arms and tried to glare at them. I just couldn't find it in me though, so I rolled my eyes and poked my head into the kitchen.

Gwen was as far into the corner as she could possibly get while Mouse was waving her arms around.

"Don't just stand there, Gwen! Do something!" Mouse was saying. I rubbed my eyes. I though I have seen Mouse's eye twitch.

"Mouse! We have visitors who would very gladly like to see you," I said.

A carrot went flying towards my head and I leaped back out of the kitchen. I waited another second before trying again. "Really, Mouse. Can you spare a second? It's Amity and Arvin," I said and braced myself for another carrot. To my surprise (and Gwen's relief), Mouse nodded.

"Keep an eye on the cake stuff," she warned Gwen and walked out of the kitchen.

Amity and Arvin looked like they were about to fall over and die laughing. They were trying their best to suppress their giggles, but overall they were failing to do so.

"Hey! How are you two doing?" Mouse happily said and gave each of them a hug.

"A carrot!" Arvin laughed. "You threw a carrot!" Mouse simply shrugged.

"So what brings you here?" Mouse asked.

"Apparently, they brought us gifts," I said.

Mouse quickly found the carrot on the ground and looked like she was considering throwing it at the prince and princess. It's probably a good thing that she opted to not chuck it at them, even if we were all friends.

It took a minute for the twins to calm down. Arvin spoke first. "After Amity came home, she told us – "

"Our family," Amity interrupted.

" – what had happened yesterday and as a thank you we quickly agreed to give you, Cat, a gift."

Amity then continued, "And because we are all such good friends, we managed to convince our parents to let us give you, Mouse, the same present."

The twins looked at each other as if they were debating on who should talk next. Amity won. "And so, without further ado, here are your gifts!" Amity poked Arvin on his arm and he dug into his pockets. He handed something to Amity and then grabbed something else from his pocket.

The twins each held a long, red ribbon.

I nearly died of shock and joy.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**HauntedApple **_and _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	11. 1-11 The Queen's Children

_**Part 1: The Royals**_

_**Chapter 11: The Queen's Children**_

_The Third of June_

**-0-**

I think that it is about time that I interrupt my tale to share with you one of the most popular stories in Spelika. Simply called "The Queen's Children," it takes place long, long ago …

**-0-**

Back in the days when Spelika was still a young kingdom and magical creatures of every shape and size wandered freely, there ruled a young king and a young queen. The queen was the most beautiful woman in all of the world. Besides her beauty, she was well known for always wearing around her waist six long sashes of different colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

Unfortunately for the king and queen, they had difficulties having a child. They sought the help of a fairy who often visited the castle. The fairy only shook her head at the young couple and told them to accept all Spelikans as their children.

"You want us to name someone else's child our heir?" the king asked.

The fairy said no, but did not elaborate. With a quick wave of her hand she disappeared from sight. With no other options left, the king and queen completely devoted themselves to their duties for many months.

Towards the end of the winter season, the queen felt the urge to travel around her kingdom. She gained the permission of her husband and in a few weeks she left The City, the capital of the kingdom of Spelika, and began to head south. She made brief stops in all of the major towns, but kept moving further south for two weeks until she reached the large Spelikan port town of Assispoce. There, the queen was able to look out on the Italico Sea. She could have stood there looking out at the water all day long, but when she heard a child crying from behind her she turned around. The queen approached a little girl who was sitting on the ground, wailing.

"Why are you sad?" the queen softly asked the young child.

Startled, the girl stopped crying and looked up at the beautiful woman in front of her. "I fell down and scraped my knee," the girl said.

The queen picked up the child and asked, "Where are your parents?" The girl pointed in a direction and the queen carried the girl over to where two people were shopping for food. When the two people turned around and saw the queen carrying their daughter the man bowed and the woman curtsied to the best of their abilities. The queen returned the girl to them and the child said to her parents, "The pretty lady is very nice. Can I give her a gift?" The parents nodded and the little girl reached into a basket her mother carried and handed the queen a few oranges.

The queen looked down at the girl and smiled. She took the strawberries from the girl and then said that for being such a little sweet girl she had a gift to give her. The queen untied the purple sash from around her waist, and so that everyone could see, she wrapped it twice around the girl's waist and tied it.

The parents protested, saying that giving their daughter one of the queen's six sashes was too much. The queen only said that as long as the family kept her gift, they could visit her back in The City any time they wanted to. Finally, the parents relented and the queen bid farewell to the young girl.

The queen headed back to The City the next day. Two weeks later, she passed the gate into the capital of Spelika. The people were surprised to see that their queen only had five sashes instead of her usual six. Some people offered her long, purple ribbons, but every time the queen politely declined.

She was still in the outer city, not having reached the ancient gates that surrounded the inner city and the castle, when she heard a child crying. Thinking of the young girl from Assispoce, the queen stopped the carriage and got out. She saw a young boy crying, holding on to a man who must have been his father as a woman who was probably the mother stood behind them.

The queen walked up to the child and the parents saw the queen. Recognizing her from her beauty and sashes, he bowed and she curtsied. The boy stopped yelling and looked at the queen with tears dripping from his eyes.

"Why are you sad?" the queen asked the boy.

"Daddy is leaving!" the boy cried. The father explained that he was leaving to fight as a soldier.

The queen thanked the man for his choice to fight for his kingdom. To the boy she smiled and the boy, liking how the beautiful lady smiled, stopped crying a little. The queen decided to take off her blue sash and wrapped it around the boy. The queen insisted that as long as the family kept the sash, they were welcome to visit the queen in the castle any time they wanted to.

The little boy let go of his father and gave the queen a hug, which she returned before returning to the carriage.

With four sashes left, the queen passed through the gates and into the inner city.

She stopped the carriage when she heard a girl crying. "Why are you sad?" the queen asked the girl, who replied that her beloved pet had died. The queen took off her green sash and gave it to the girl, telling her and her parents (who were next to the girl) the same thing that she had told the other children and their parents.

The little girl wiped the tears off her face and thanked the queen, flashing a toothy smile.

Now wearing only three of her original six sashes, the beautiful queen arrived back home in the castle. She went up to her room first in order to clean up. All refreshed a while later, the queen walked around the castle.

In a hallway, the queen saw a young boy standing next to his mother, who was one of the many people who worked in the castle.

"Momma, I want to help you clean!" the little boy said. The mother shook her head.

The queen thought it was sweet how the boy wanted to help his mother and walked over to the boy. The mother saw the queen, stood up, curtsied and tried to quickly leave, dragging her boy by the arm when the queen told her to stop.

To the boy the queen said, "It is kind that you wish to help your mother. For being such a good boy, you should get a present." The woman tried to shake her head and refuse whatever the queen was going to give her son, but the queen insisted. She untied the yellow sash from around her waist and gave it to the boy. "Keep the gift. That way, if you ever wish to see me personally, you may."

The queen gave the boy a pat of the head and then excused herself.

Down to two sashes, the queen kept walking through the castle until she passed a family of nobles who lived in the inner city. The child was a little girl who looked teary-eyed. The queen approached the family, who all properly greeted their queen, and asked the girl, "Why are you sad?"

"Because Daddy says that we are going on a long trip and I won't see my friend for a long time," the girl said. The queen asked how long they would be gone. "Three whole months!" she told the queen.

The queen told the girl that her friend would be waiting for her when she returned home. The girl brightened up, and the queen, feeling happy and generous, decided to give the girl her orange sash. "Be sure to keep this, and when you get home you can come see me sometime!" the queen told her.

The girl thanked the queen and then she followed her parents away.

The queen, with only her red sash left, kept walking through the castle until she found her husband, the king. The two embraced, having missed the other after such a long time apart. When the king asked his wife what happened to five of her sashes, the queen told him about the children she had given them to. Seeing his wife looking so happy at the mention of the children, the king decided it would be the perfect time to tell his wife about the birth of her best friend's baby.

The wife resolved to visit her friend. She and her husband immediately started walking over to where the friends was staying in the castle. The new mother welcomed the royal couple into the room and showed them her son. The queen congratulated her friend on the beautiful baby and took off her last sash. She held it out to her friend and told her that it was a good luck gift for her friend and the baby boy. The friend graciously accepted the gift and the two friends embraced.

The queen no longer had any pretty sashes to wear, but after seeing the children she had given the sashes away to smile, she was more than content.

A bit more than nine months later, the queen gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

The king and queen decided to have a big festival in honor of their daughter during the last week of the year. The queen was overjoyed to see all of the children she had gifted the sashes to and their families come as special guests. A ball was thrown on the last day of the year to mark the end of the festival. The queen commissioned the making of nice clothes for all of the children and their families to wear to the ball so they could all look like princes and princesses.

Every year from then on, a festival was held on the week of the year with a masquerade ball on the final night. The weeklong festival became famous throughout all of Spelika as the Sash Festival.

**-0-**

The story also says that the queen had a total of six children, three boys and three girls. Her eldest eventually married her best friend's son. The queen's eldest son went on to become the next king of Spelika.

At the Sash Festival nowadays, everyone wears a particular color sash depending on where they live. There is a children's song that little ones often sing:

_All who live in villages and towns_

_Can wear purple sashes to the festival grounds._

_All who live in outer city_

_Can wear blue sashes to look pretty._

_All who live within the inner gates_

_Can wear green to meet their dates_

_All who work within the castle_

_Can wear yellow without hassle._

_All who are noble or royal_

_Can wear orange to show they're loyal_

_But each royal only chooses one friend_

_Who to the festival they will send_

_To dance and have fun at the ball_

_Wearing red and looking fairest of them all._

**-0-**

The red ribbons Arvin and Amity were holding out to us were thick enough and long enough for us to tie them around our waists as sashes. They were asking us to go to the ball as the honored guests! If we accepted, we would be two of the five people in all of Spelika wearing the official red sashes.

"Oh gosh, there's no way that we could ever accept them!" I said.

Amity smiled, walking over to me. She took my hand and placed the ribbon in it before I had any idea what she was doing. "It looks like you just did!" she said with a wink.

Mouse dropped the carrot, looking like she was about to cry. "You really want us to go to the Sash Festival ball? This isn't some joke?"

The twins nodded earnestly and Mouse practically leaped forward and tackled the twins in a huge hug. I quickly joined in.

"So I take it that you like them?" Arvin asked, breaking away from our hug.

"Like them? We love them!" Mouse squealed.

Amity laughed. "That's good. Now to buy dresses and masks!"

"Whoa, now. Dresses and masks?" I asked.

Arvin shrugged. Amity nodded enthusiastically and said, "For the masquerade ball! I'll pay for them and you will both look like princesses!"

"No way, you've already done enough," Mouse said and I chipped in, "We'll save up and buy our own masks and dresses."

"Are you sure?" Amity asked with a skeptical look on her face. "Because money isn't a problem for us and I don't want you to cheap out on a night that should be fantastic and perfect."

"Today is the third of June and the ball is on the thirty-first of December," I said logically. "We should have plenty of time."

"Only if you are absolutely sure," Amity said, narrowing her eyes at us.

"Yes!" Mouse and I said at the same time. "We're sure!"

Amity put her hands in the air. "Okay, okay."

"I'll be counting down the days until the ball," Arvin said with a grin. "This year is going to be more interesting with you two there."

"We're going to let you get back to working on your cake," Amity said, giving us hugs. "Put the ribbons up somewhere safe where you won't lose them. I'm sure we'll be seeing you again soon! Ta-ta for now!"

"Thank you!" Mouse and I said as we waved bye to our friends.

"Oh, and Mouse?" Arvin said before he headed out of the bakery.

"Yes?"

"Don't go throwing any more carrots." He winked and then walked out the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**HauntedApple, Pokemonchen, **_and _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	12. 2-12 I Promise

_**Part 2: In Partnership**_

_**Chapter 12: I Promise**_

_The Third of June_

**-0-**

Mouse and I instantly went into the kitchen to tell Gwen what just happened. She didn't believe us at first until she saw the long red ribbons. Gwen was quiet for a moment, trying to take in the fact that her little sister and her best friend were going to one of the biggest events in the kingdom as honored guests. Jealousy flashed across her face for a split second before she suddenly broke out into a genuine smile and pulled us into a group hug.

"I'm so happy for you both," she said. "If anyone deserves this wonderful opportunity, it's you two."

"Can't … breathe," Mouse exaggerated, squirming in her sister's grasp. Gwen was giving us a rather tight hug, but it wasn't _that_ bad.

"What was that, Mouse?" I asked. "Hug you tighter? Okay!" I let go of Gwen completely and put both of my arms around Mouse to give her a quick squeeze. She squealed and then the hug broke apart, with Mouse muttering something about us being the death of her.

"As much as I'd love to spend the rest of the day talking about the ball, I think we have some important things we have to keep working on," Gwen said after she saw the cake we had practically abandoned while we were telling Gwen about the ribbons. "Why don't you go find a place upstairs to safely put those little treasures?" Mouse and I nodded and went towards the stairs.

"I think I'm going to put my ribbon under my blankets in my chest," Mouse said. "What do you think?"

I nodded and said, "Well, we have to hide them somewhere they will be safe, but where we have no chance of losing or forgetting them."

"So … In my chest?" She didn't even wait for my answer as she walked over to the wooden chest at the foot of her bed and began to pull out some of the blankets.

"Okay, sure," I mumbled as I glanced around our room. Where did I feel most comfortable putting my gift? Mouse had just placed her ribbon on top of the last blanket in her chest and began to put the other blankets back up when I had an idea.

I glanced down at my ribbon. There was some embroidery of what looked like two pieces of golden rope loosely twisted together at both ends of the ribbon. I wondered if the embroidery was the same on Mouse's ribbon before I took one end of mine and started rolling it up carefully. Once it was all rolled up, I walked over to the little wooden box on my nightstand and opened it up. I eyed the inside, making sure that the box would be big enough. When I decided that it was, I took out my precious necklace and placed the ribbon at the bottom. Then I returned my necklace to its rightful place and closed the box. Why not keep my two most valuable items in the same place?

Wait a second. Maybe it wasn't a very good idea. I grabbed the box and then got down on my knees next to the bed. Lifting a thin piece of fabric, I slipped the box under my bed where it couldn't be seen. That was at least a little better.

Mouse was waiting for me in the doorway. "Come on, Cat. We have a cake to finish!" She turned around as soon as she saw that I was finished and went to the stairs. I quickly followed after her.

We found the kitchen empty. I poked my head out into the shop and saw Gwen sitting behind the desk. She saw me and winked. "Sorry, Cat. You're on cake duty now."

I groaned but complied. It was very surprising for me to turn around and find Mouse already at work putting icing on the cake. She was humming and didn't look the least bit stressed.

Tentatively, I started to put icing on the other side of the cake. Besides Mouse's humming, we sat in silence for a little while. Then, suddenly, Mouse asked, "Where are we going to put the money we save up for our outfits to the ball?"

"Why don't we put it in a jar or something?" I suggested.

Mouse stood up and walked over to a cabinet and opened it up. She pulled out a large glass jar that we used to put cookies we sold in and set it on the counter. "I think this would work perfectly, then!"

I nodded as Mouse got back to work on the cake. "We can put all the extra money we have at the end of the week in the jar," I said. "And then when the ball starts to get close, we can divide everything in it between us."

"Perfect. Although it's going to be rough on you not buying a new book every week," Mouse joked, knowing my book habit all too well.

"I'll just re-read my favorite books. Now what's interesting will be seeing how well you can survive without buying a new flower every week."

Let me explain: Mouse is excellent at cooking with flour. However, she lacks a green thumb that would give her any luck with flowers. Still, she always has one flower in a vase on her nightstand and every time that flower dies, she goes out and buys a new one.

"Then I'll just force you to take care of my flowers and keep them alive longer. Or, if worst comes to worst, I'll go buy a fake flower and stick with it."

I raised one eyebrow at my friend. "Why haven't you done that before?"

"Because I am perfectly capable of taking care of my own flowers. You will just open up a book and say a spell over them and make them live forever." Mouse tried to say that with a straight face, but she just couldn't stay serious. We both laughed.

"Oh!" Mouse suddenly said. "I have an excellent idea! I'm going to leave for a little while and let you to decorate the cake."

Mouse was quick to hop up and head towards the store area. I was faster in stopping her by grabbing her arm. "Now wait just one second, Mouse! Am I really to believe that you are just going to leave me to decorate this cake all by myself?"

"Yep!"

"Two things then. One: Who are you and what have you done with Ratana Hans? Two: I don't even know what the final design is supposed to look like!"

Mouse put a hand over mine and said, "Is it wrong of me to have a little faith in my best friend to design a nice cake every once in awhile? Just add some flowers and swirls, nothing too complicated." She brushed my hand off her arm, leaving a very shocked me staring as she walked right out of the bakery.

I turned back around to face the cake. I hope Mouse knew what she was getting herself into by letting me add all the details by myself. And without even going crazy and throwing fruit or vegetables! It was a very strange day. Wonderful, but strange.

With a sigh, I got to work on the cake.

**-0-**

"Hey, Gwen. I'm back now," I heard Mouse say later. Mouse walked into the kitchen and saw the cake, which I had just ben finishing up. I stood up and took a step back so my friend could analyze my work.

"Wow. You did a pretty good job!" she complimented. "Now look at what I bought!"

She revealed a very simple bag-like thing made out of a cheap red fabric. I was about to ask what it was for when she walked over to the money jar and placed it inside so that the coins we put in the jar would fall into the bag. To make it so the bag wouldn't fall to the bottom, she folded it over the edge of the jar. Mouse placed the lid of the jar on top, but didn't actually close it. "This way people won't be able to see how much money we have in here without opening it up."

"I see now! You just wanted some lining for the jar," I said.

"Precisely. I also considered getting a fake flower, but I decided to wait a little bit longer."

I walked over next to Mouse and placed my left hand on the jar. I held my right hand up in the air. Mouse saw what I was doing and did the same.

"I promise," I began, "to place all of my money that I do not spend on the bakery or on the necessities of life in this jar."

"I promise to do the same," Mouse said. "I also promise not to take out any money without talking to you first."

"I promise to not take out any money without talking to you first, too. Anything else?" Mouse shook her head. "Okay then, so we have a deal?"

"We sure do." Mouse smiled and we both walked away from the jar and back to the cake. "You know," Mouse said, "you really didn't do a bad job on the cake."

"Thanks. Does that mean you won't freak out as much when I help next time?"

"No promises there!" Mouse said. We both giggled. "Let me fix this flower right here and then we'll see."

Mouse removed the icing flower (which, admittedly, was the first one I made and the worst of them) and made a new one. She also made a few other change and additions before declaring the cake to be finished.

Since we decided to make the cake at the bakery and it was fairly small, we were going to deliver the cake to the client. While that is always easier said than done, we managed to find a fairly light box and put the cake inside so that it wouldn't slip or slide around. The walk to the client's house was very short and without incident. The woman who greeted Mouse and me looked at the cake and loved it. She let us in the house and we set down the cake in the kitchen. The woman, who happened to be the bride, fetched her fiancé so that he could pay for the cake.

The couple had paid half of the cost before we made the cake, and now the man handed us the second half. Mouse and I congratulated the couple and then, with a small tip, we headed back to the bakery.

I threw my portion of the tip into the jar and Mouse smiled and did the same. We had just officially started to save our money.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Pokemonchen**_ and _**HauntedApple **_for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	13. 2-13 Waiting

_**Part 2: In Partnership**_

_**Chapter 13: Waiting**_

_The Fifth of June_

**-0-**

I was a bit torn about what to look forward to more. I was eager for the weekend to come so I could go visit the gardens. Maybe Bird would have written a reply by then. Then again, I wanted to see how much money we could make. We would need a total of about one thousand byrds for the both of us to split by my estimate in order to get a shoes, masks, and dresses. In the end, I decided that I didn't have to choose between them.

Mouse and I decided to keep the money jar among all the other jars in the bakery. The red cloth lining made it look slightly different from the others, but not unusual among the spices and other food products Gwen liked to collect and put into jars around the kitchen.

Only a couple of days passed when I was going through my books near the end of the day and found an interesting little book. The binding was a nice shade of deep red and the pages on the inside were completely blank. I had once planned to write in it as a journal, but I didn't know where to begin so I never did. Now I figured I had something to write in it.

With the book tucked under my arm, I grabbed a pen and some ink and went down into the kitchen. I set them down on the counter and then peeked inside the money jar to see how much money was inside. Once I counted the few coins inside, I walked back over to the empty book and opened it up. I began to write inside it.

**-0-**

_Mouse and I are saving up money for the Sash Festival's masquerade ball. Since I have no other purpose for this journal at this time, I plan on keeping an accurate count of how much money we have put in the jar here._

**-0-**

I flipped the page and wrote "_**Money Jar Count**_" in big bold letters in the center. I let the ink dry and then flipped the page once more.

**-0-**

_The Fifth of June_

_Griffs - 0_

_Eaglle - 0_

_Hawkks - 0_

_Dukks - 2_

_Sparrs - 4_

_Total byrds: 14_

**-0-**

Each sparr was worth one byrd, and five sparrs made one dukk. A hawkk was worth ten byrds, and five hawkks was equal to an eaglle. The last of the coins were the griffs, which were worth two hundred byrds. I'd be very surprised if we were ever able to have a griff in the jar.

Fourteen byrds wasn't terrible for only a few days. We still had a long time before we had to come up with the money. And if worst came to worst, we could both always get an outfit of lesser quality for cheaper. I really hoped it wouldn't come down to that. The night of the ball would be our one time to shine. People would give an arm and a leg if they could ever get the opportunity we were getting. We were lucky and we still had months left.

I shut the book closed and walked back up to my room. I placed it on my nightstand where my box used to be before putting away the pen and ink. Once that was done, I decided to begin to get ready for bed.

**-0-**

I was sitting right next to door on the ground. I was waiting for a very important letter. Waiting and waiting and waiting. Everything was still except me, twiddling my thumbs and every once in awhile tapping my fingers on the floor to the beat of a song I couldn't remember the name of.

There was a knock on the door. I leaped up and flung the door open, eager to take the letter from the messenger. Instead, I saw a woman wearing a pale blue dress. She had black hair and black eyes, both in stark contrast to her pale skin. She looked at me quizzically. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm waiting for a very important letter," I said. "You are not the messenger." I was about to close the door so I could sit back down on the ground, but the woman held out her arm and stopped the door.

"Why thank you Captain Obvious," the woman said. She stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind her. When I sat back down on the ground, she sat down next to me.

"Anytime, Lieutenant Sarcasm. Now what are you doing here? Can't you see I'm busy?"

The woman frowned and placed her hand on her necklace – the oddly familiar one with a black rose pendant. "Catharine, cease with these silly games and wake up some," the woman said. "You are dreaming."

That sounded very, very familiar. Why? I blinked and then it all came back. I _was_ dreaming. The woman next to me was Wiltera Vinal and she had visited me in my dreams once before. I remembered everything. Oh, goodness! She's back!

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I am checking in on you. Why are you waiting for a letter?"

"Oh, I suppose it's because I wrote a reply to a letter I found and this weekend I'm going to see if there is a reply."

"Whom are you writing to?" Wiltera asked. She seemed interested, but her eyes were just as emotionless as they always were.

"I don't really know," I admitted. "He calls himself Bird, but it's just a nickname."

"Is that so? And pray tell, has anything else exciting happened to you recently?" She had one eyebrow raised and slowly began to stand up so she was looking down on me. Uncomfortable, I stood back up to look her in the eye.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked, slightly leaning in. Wiltera nodded. It's not like it mattered if I told a person from my dreams a secret. "Well, I got invited to a ball. And not just to any ball, but the Sash Festival ball." My voice got softer and softer as I said that, almost as if I was afraid someone would hear me. But there was only Wiltera. We were in my dream, no one else could hear me.

"Now that is _much_ more interesting than a few letters. Tell me, have you started planning? Obviously you will want to have a pretty dress and the works."

So I filled her in on the jar plan Mouse and I had made. I didn't describe the jar or where we had hidden our ribbons or anything, I simply told her the basics of the plan.

"I see. How very fascinating. So much to do and so very little time to do it!" She threw her hands up in the air excitedly and her lips even moved into a smile.

"I think the opposite. It feels like I have all the time in the world," I said.

"When you have lived as long as I have, time can pass in the blink of an eye."

"Excuse me? I don't think I heard you right. You don't look very old to me."

"We can talk about that next time. Just keep collecting your money. Work hard. And next time someone wants you to make a cake, do it all alone." She winked and then clapped her hands. There was a bright light and a great amount of heat, almost as if there were flames licking at my skin. I covered my eyes. And suddenly it was all gone. I lowered my arm and the room was just as it was before, minus Wiltera.

I sat back down on the ground by the door and started to wait all over again. A messenger was coming with a letter.

**-0-**

I woke up and days passed quickly. Between the night I had the dream with Wiltera and the weekend, not one person asked me to make a cake. We had one request to make a cake, but the request was made to Gwen, not me.

When Sunday finally came, I told Mouse that I was going for a walk. She nodded and told me not to worry if I came back to find that she wasn't there. She was considering buying new shoes to replace her old ones because they were falling apart.

I left soon after and headed straight for the gardens. I stopped at the entrance to the maze for a split second before walking in. I was not afraid of getting lost all day because I had gotten through the maze before. I used the same technique that I used last time, following one of the walls. It might have been my imagination, but I thought that it took me less time to find the same tree than it did last time.

I slowly walked up to the tree. I glanced up at the branches and saw the bottle. It didn't have the ribbon wrapped around the neck anymore, which meant that either someone had found my reply or the ribbon had come off by its own. I was holding out that the former was true.

I grabbed the small bottle. I had a small, silent debate with myself (like only a truly crazy person could) on whether to open it up right there or not. I came to the decision to wait until I was back in my room.

I practically ran back to the house, and I found that Mouse was gone just like she said she would be. I climbed the stairs two at a time and then popped open the bottle as soon as I sat down on the bed. With a small flick of the wrist, the small paper in the bottle fell out into the palm of my hand. I carefully set down the empty bottle and unfolded the paper. I wouldn't have to wait any longer to see how Bird would react!

**-0-**

_June 6_

_To Rose:_

_A reply! An actual reply! Thank you, Rose, for finding my letters and writing back. It actually means a great deal to me. Also, thank you for the birthday wishes._

_My sister gave me the nickname Bird back when I once read her a bedtime story from a book. The story was about a bird and there was an illustration of the bird on one of the pages. According to my sister, the color of the bird's feathers matched the color of my eyes. Because the story was one of my sister's favorites, she started calling me Bird and the nickname has stuck ever since._

_As for me deciding to hide the bottle with my letters in a maze, I just like it there. Plus, not very many people just go wandering through a maze on any given day. I am sorry that it might take you a long time to find your way through the maze, but I think you will learn your way through it fairly quickly. If you ever get the chance, you should just spend your day wandering through the maze. It can be fun._

_So, is Rose your real name or just a nickname? I wouldn't blame you if you decided to not use your real name. It is a nice name either way, I think._

_Why did you wrap the ribbon around the neck of the bottle? I'm guessing that it was just to let me know for sure that someone replied, but why wrap a ribbon around it? Of all thing the things you could have done! It was a nice little touch, I must say._

_It is much different experience writing a letter when you know that someone will actually reply. Now I can actually imagine a person in my head who will actually be reading this. Thank you again for that._

_Sincerely,_

_Bird_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Pokemonchen**_, _**HauntedApple, **_and _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	14. 2-14 Good News

_**Part 2: In Partnership**_

_**Chapter 14: Good News**_

_The Ninth of June_

_Griffs - 0_

_Eaglle - 0_

_Hawkks - 0_

_Dukks - 3_

_Sparrs - 9_

_Total byrds: 24_

**-0-**

I finished reading Bird's letter and set it down. I grabbed a clean sheet of paper and some ink. It only took me a couple seconds to decide exactly what all I wanted to write. Using my neatest handwriting, I began to write my reply.

**-0-**

_June 9_

_To Bird:_

_I think that I am starting to get the hang of finding my way through the maze. Still, I think I will follow your advice and just wander through the maze one day. I could pack a book and some food in a basket and have a little picnic under the tree one day while the weather is nice._

_Rose is just an old nickname of mine. My mother used to call me Rose sometimes, but everyone else just calls me by my given name or by another nickname._

_I am not completely sure why I tied a ribbon onto the bottle. It was just a random idea at the time. Maybe my subconscious just wanted to make sure you noticed that there was a reply? Who knows!_

_I am a fairly curious person by nature, and you are such a mystery to me right now, Bird. An interesting mystery I am selfishly keeping all to myself. My best friend doesn't even know about these letters yet. Then again, I am not sure that she would be very interested in reading the letters of stranger. If she knew exactly who you are, then that would be a different matter, I think. Does anyone know about you writing your little messages?_

_Sincerely,_

_Rose_

**-0-**

I let my letter dry before rolling it us and placing it into the bottle. I took Bird's letter, which was sitting on top of my bed, and placed it in my nightstand drawer with all of the other letters. The urge to tie a ribbon around the neck of the bottle again struck me and I found myself grabbing a pink ribbon to tie around the bottle's neck. I would have to go buy some new hair ribbons if I kept tying them around a bottle to never be seen again. Or, seeing as ribbons were not considered part of the necessities category of my deal with Mouse, it was probably best if I didn't go giving away the rest of my ribbons. If I stuck to my part of the deal then I wouldn't be able to buy a bunch of new ribbons any time soon.

Shaking my head, I closed the drawer and began to head back to the gardens. It occurred to me that it would be easier to write my letters in the maze next time instead of going home and then returning to the maze just a little bit later. Much, much easier. I would have to remember to bring some ink and paper next time.

Eventually, I arrived at the public gardens and headed into the maze. The weather was fairly nice and I couldn't help but to hope that it would be just as nice next time I came back. The sky was blue and large, fluffy clouds were slowly rolling by. It wasn't too bright or too hot, mostly because the clouds kept covering the sun. I almost couldn't believe that I hadn't appreciated the beautiful weather earlier that morning, but I had been too busy thinking about the letters to really think about anything else.

I paid just enough attention to where I was walking through the maze to get me to the tree in what I thought had to be record time. I was starting to learn which turns I didn't have to bother taking. In no time I would be able to walk straight to the tree instead of taking unnecessary turns here and there.

I found the tree and set the bottle down in the branches. As soon as I was sure the bottle was positioned in a way that it wouldn't fall, I turned back around and made my way out of the maze as quickly as possible. _Without_, may I add, any assistance from Jonathan. I would have to be able to find my way through the maze without his help every time.

Wait a second. I stopped walking dead in my tracks. Jonathan knew his way through the maze. And he recently turned eighteen, just like Bird. Maybe … Just maybe Jonathan was Bird. I'd have to remember to ask him next time I saw him. Or I could always ask Bird. But then again, did I really want the mystery of Bird's identity to be solved so quickly?

I shook my head slightly and kept walking until I got back home.

"Cat! That must have been one long walk. Where did you go? Peter's home and he has some good news. He's refusing to tell me what the good news is until Gwen gets home. She should be back soon and Peter is waiting in the kitchen. And look who I ran into while I was out: Jeffery! Aren't you going to say hi? Now don't be rude!" Mouse said all of that in one breath, I think. Impressive.

"Hello, Jeffery," I said, giving a slight wave to the guy standing behind Mouse. "How have things been?"

"Pretty good, thank you for asking," he said. "Anything new in your world since we last saw each other?"

"Oh come on! You know me! I always have something new going on." I moved away from the door closer to my friends. "Are you ever going to cut your hair?" I jokingly asked Jeffery, who smiled and shrugged.

"Maybe. Maybe not. It just depends."

"Oh, that sure does answer my question," I said to Jeffery before turning to Mouse. "Have you already had lunch? Because I'm starving."

"You haven't had lunch yet? Ugh. I made some sandwiches earlier. Go see if Peter saved you one like I asked him to."

"Thanks Mouse. You're a doll." I grinned and headed into the kitchen. I saw Peter sitting at the table. He was holding an apple in one hand and a book in the other. He almost looked like he was trying to choose between them, but that would be ridiculous.

"Is Peter the Great actually considering reading a book without being forced to by his wife? That must be a first," I joked while grabbing a sandwich off the counter. It looked like he also saved me a sandwich for once. Normally he would devour them without distinguishing whose sandwich was whose.

"I like the sound of that," Peter said. He put the items down and stood up. "From now on, you shall address me only as Peter the Great!"

"Okay. I'll start calling you Peter the Great the day you start calling me Catharine the Magnificent," I said between bites of ham sandwich, quickly finishing the entire thing. "And until then, tell me what the good news Mouse mentioned."

"I'm not telling anything until Gwen gets home." Peter made a motion with his hands as if he was stitching up his mouth. At least, that's what I hoped he was trying to do.

As soon as Peter finished "stitching" up his mouth, I heard the sound of the door opening and Mouse talking. "Gwen, hurry up and go into the kitchen. Peter has good news but refused to tell us any more until you came back, which would be now."

"Alright!" I heard Gwen say. I could imagine her putting down a new jar of some kind of spice and whatever else she had bought on the table in the shop. "Oh, hello, Jeffery. Long time no see." And then Gwen stepped into the kitchen and headed straight for her husband with Mouse and Jeffery stepping into the kitchen behind her.

I smirked. "Gwen's home now," I said to Peter. "You can un-stitch your lips now and tell us the good news."

"Give me a minute, will ya? My wife just got home and I'd like to say hello after a long day at work." Peter hugged Gwen and Mouse rolled her eyes. Jeffery chuckled at Mouse's expression.

"Okay. All better now," Gwen said, breaking away from the hug after giving Peter a quick kiss. "What is this good news that you've been torturing my little sister over?"

Peter cleared his throat dramatically and waited a second before saying anything. "I've been promoted!"

It turns out that his promotion included getting a slight pay raise and all Sundays and Wednesdays off.

"Why Wednesdays?" Jeffery asked later while he, Peter, and I were in the store part of the house playing a card game that I couldn't get the hang of. Mouse and Gwen were cooking up a little celebratory feast in the kitchen. I would have been helping them, but they insisted that two people would be more than enough for what they had planned. They told me to entertain the boys.

"My boss figured that I'd like a day off in the middle of the week," Peter said. "No other reason, really."

"You can't do that!" I suddenly called out when Jeffery took his turn. He laughed and told me it was the second rule in the rulebook. I groaned. The end of the world would come before I could ever learn all of the rules and tricks to that game. Obviously, I lost that round and all the following rounds.

**-0-**

The rest of the day was spent laughing and eating. I kept asking Jeffery when or if he would ever cut his long blond hair, but he would never give me a definite answer. I eventually stopped asking after Mouse admitted that she liked it at the length it currently was. Peter laughed at us and changed the subject back to the food. It was delicious, but I had no idea where some of it came from. Maybe Gwen had bought some of it while she was out shopping. Anyway, there was so much food that there were even a few leftovers that we'd be able to eat for lunch the next day.

Jeffery helped us to clean up a bit after dinner, but eventually he left to go home. We'd all be up and working early in the morning. We managed to convince him to take some of the leftovers home, which he took gratefully.

Once the rest of the cleaning was finished, Mouse and I went upstairs to get ready for bed, leaving Peter and Gwen talking in the kitchen.

"We've been really lucky," Mouse softly said as she laid down in her bed a bit later. "It's like magic."

"It sure is," I said, blowing out the last lit candle in our room and getting comfortable in my bed. "Good night, Mouse."

"Good night. Sweet dreams."

A while passed and I eventually asked, "Mouse? Would you hate me if I kept a secret from you?" My only reply was the sound of Mouse's breathing. She had fallen asleep. Eventually, I followed her example and drifted off to dreamland. A dreamland without any night-time visitors named Wiltera.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Pokemonchen **_and _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	15. 2-15 Time Goes By

_**Part 2: In Partnership**_

_**Chapter 15: Time Goes By**_

_The Twentieth of July_

_Griffs - 0_

_Eaglle - 1_

_Hawkks - 8_

_Dukks - 14_

_Sparrs - 31_

_Total byrds: 231_

**-0-**

Peter started spending his Wednesdays working at the bakery. Gwen, Mouse, and I would work in the kitchen while he ran the shop. At first, our regular customers at the bakery were slightly confused. They never really saw Peter before then because he was too busy working. The food was still the same, though, and they kept on buying.

Business was doing great. If they could speak, I think our money jar and the book would quickly agree. Gwen and Peter were even throwing in the extra dukk or sparr every once in awhile. For the most part, they were letting us collect the money on our own. They were pretty proud of us for working together to get the money off of our own wages and tips. Of course, owning the bakery you work at does mean you have a little bit more say about how much you get paid and how much goes towards the bakery ….

Arvin and Amity visited every once in awhile. Mouse and I agreed to not tell them about the jar, afraid that they would try to find it so they could put money into it. We just told them that we were saving up our money and it was coming along fine. The twins probably figured that the best way to give us money was to buy something from us every singe time they visited, which was about once a week each. Actually, maybe that was just Amity's reasoning. Arvin loved eating anything we sold. He said that it was the highlight of his week. I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying either because of the way he would practically inhale whatever he bought. Once, he bought a pie and then ate the entire thing right there in the shop! (He had politely asked for a plate and fork, at least.) And once he finished it, he bought another pie and took it back to the castle for Sarina and Stephan – or so he said. For all we know, he ate it on his walk back.

As for Wiltera, she visited in my dreams once or twice a week. My dream would always start out like a normal dream and then Wiltera would find a surprising way to make herself known. She's had to remind the dream-me more than once that I could control my dreams in order to get myself out of a sticky situation (Such as being stuck to the roof of a cave. "Fly down like a bat," she had jokingly told me. I hadn't found it very funny.) Once my dreams were under control, we'd sit around and talk. Usually Wiltera would ask me about my family or friends or the ball so I'd tell her about them. I honestly didn't mind telling her. There was no reason _not_ to tell her.

I still didn't know much about my visitor, though. Every once in a while she would say something a bit strange, but it would quickly be forgotten. One thing that she did tell me though was that she didn't have any family left. I asked her what happened to her family, but the sad look she gave me brought about a quick subject change.

I hadn't told anyone about Wiltera yet. Just like I hadn't told anyone about the letters from Bird. I had a nice little collection of letters piling up in my nightstand drawer. Every Saturday night or Sunday morning I would go out on a walk to the maze. I had also started carrying a basket with a piece of paper, a bottle of ink and a pen, and a book to use as a hard surface to write on. It cut down the time I spent working on the letters quite a bit. What also helped cut down the time was the fact that I had successfully memorized the path to the dead-end and the path out of the maze. I didn't need Jonathan to help me. And mentioning Jonathan, I hadn't seen him again. A tiny part of me hoped to find him every time, but when I didn't I would just think about Bird and his last letter.

Yes, time sure had been going on by.

**-0-**

_June 12_

_To Rose:_

_So, Rose, you do not know exactly why you tied the ribbon onto the bottle but you did it again? You didn't have to because I now know that there is __someone__ who is responding to my letters. I'm not very sure what to do with the ribbons once I get them. What is a guy supposed to do with a pink ribbon? Wear it? I don't think so._

_I have told my best friend about how I was writing letters and leaving them in a bottle, but he doesn't know about anything other than that. He respects my privacy enough to not read my letters or yours and knows that if I wanted to talk about them then I would. No one else even knows about our letters, though. If you want to tell your friend about our messages, then go ahead. I'm sure that she would respect your privacy like my friend does._

_You are as much of a mystery to me as I am to you. That is what makes writing you so interesting._

_Sincerely,_

_Bird_

**-0-**

_June 16_

_To Bird:_

_You do not know what to do with a pink ribbon yet you still keep it? It is not like I need them back, but I am curious about what you will do with them. Put them in a drawer like I do with your letters? Use them as bookmarks? Or do you just give them to your little sister? Whatever you do with them, I hope this blue ribbon is a bit more to your liking than the pink ribbon._

_I have not told my friends about our our letters yet, but maybe I will tell her if it has worked out well with you and your friend. Your friend sounds like a good person. I would ask what he is like, but I would rather know more about the person I am writing. I am sure you understand that._

_There are so many questions I want to ask you, but if I were to write them all out I think I would need to find a larger bottle! It is just so hard to choose which questions to ask you. Where to begin? How about … What is your favorite book? Mine is a book of fairy tales I have had for years._

_Sincerely,_

_Rose_

**-0-**

_June 20_

_To Rose:_

_Yes, I the blue ribbon was a lot more to my liking, although it was a little bit wet from the storm last night. Once it dried off a bit, I put it, along with all the other ribbons and letters I have gotten from you, in a drawer as well. The drawer even has a key so no one else will go through the things in it._

_I have a feeling that you like to read. I'm just saying that because no person who doesn't like reading would ask that as their first question! I also enjoy reading. It is a very hard choice for me though. I like many of the classics, like __One Thousand and Two Nights__, __A Tale of Two Kingdoms__, and __The King of the Rings__. You've heard of them, right?_

_There are definitely many questions I would like to ask you as well. Do you live close to the gardens? I live very close by. If you do too, then surely you must have heard the thunder from the storm. Every time I fell asleep, thunder would wake me back up! At least when the rain let up and I checked on the bottle I found that it was still in the branches of the tree and the contents of the bottle were completely dry._

_Sincerely,_

_Bird_

**-0-**

_June 22_

_To Bird:_

_You are much too kind! You did not have to tie a new ribbon on the bottle for me. Besides, that one ribbon you gave me was nicer than most of the ribbons I gave you. In return for the red ribbon you gave me, I shall give you a red ribbon too._

_You got me, I am indeed quite the bookworm. Yes, I have heard of those and I quite like them too. You have a good taste in books!_

_I live fairly close to the gardens. It only takes me a short walk to get there, so I did hear that storm. I was so exhausted from a long day that I slept through most of it. I woke up once to the thunder but fell right back asleep. Still, when I woke up and saw all of the water I worried about the bottle. It is amazing that it didn't fall out of the tree._

_So what is your favorite animal? I like dogs, but I haven't owned one in years. Susie, my last dog, was a sweet little brown thing. She was fully grown when I got her and she lived for a few more years after that and died in her sleep. I cried for days after that and haven't had a pet since. If I lived in a more pet-friendly place, I think I'd get a puppy in a heartbeat._

_Sincerely,_

_Rose_

**-0-**

_June 27_

_To Rose:_

_I am glad that the ribbon I picked out was good. My sister knows a lot more about fabrics than I do, but there's no way that I could ever go to her for advice! I hope that you also like this green ribbon. Green is still your favorite color, I presume._

_The horse is my favorite animal. They are just so big and powerful, but visiting them is very relaxing. I don't even really mind mucking out stalls. Bonding with an animal can be an incredible thing, but losing beloved animals can be terrible. I lost a dog a couple years back, so I can empathize with your loss._

_Cupid's Day is coming up soon. I don't have a special girl to celebrate the day with so it's not a very special holiday to me. Do you have a special man to celebrate the holiday with? I know a few girls who love the holiday regardless of their relationship status. My crazy sister says that she is just going to buy some kind of chocolate pastry or something from _The Hans Family Bakery_. My brother, on the other hand, is going to visit the girl he likes. He won't tell me who the girl is, but he will tell me that the girl doesn't know he likes her. I wish him luck!_

_Sincerely,_

_Bird_

**-0-**

_June 30_

_To Bird:_

_Thank you for the ribbon again. That particular shade of green happens to be my favorite shade. It is not too light but not too dark; it is just right! If it was a random choice of fabrics, then you did a wonderful job on that too. You really should not go buying ribbons for me, though. Save the money and spend it on something else, like carrots for your favorite horse._

_Happy Cupid's Day! I know that you wrote that you do not particularly care for Cupid's Day, but I cannot resist writing it. I also don't have any person to celebrate the day with. It is not my favorite holiday, but I was at the bakery yesterday and I must say that there were many people there. Anything with chocolate was especially popular. The bakery sure is doing great business! My best friend, who was also at the bakery with me, loves Cupid's Day. She doesn't have anyone to celebrate it with, but she has a crush on someone and refuses to admit who it is._

_Right now I am sitting in the shade of the tree in the maze. Right before I started reading your letter, I took a moment to look up at the clouds and tried to find shapes in them. When I was a child I used to do that all the time and sometimes when my mother was not working, she would join me as I looked at the clouds. We used to do a bunch of things like that together. I miss those things. If it does not seem too rude of me for asking, is there anything from your childhood that you miss?_

_Sincerely,_

_Rose_

**-0-**

_July 3_

_To Rose:_

_I will continue to buy ribbons for you as long as you continue to give your ribbons to me. Money is not much of an issue for me. I have quite a bit saved up and the ribbons are inexpensive._

_I miss the free time I had as a child to do whatever I wanted to do. I used to draw little pictures on paper or play with all of the other children whenever I felt like it. But as I grew older, my parents started making me pick up more responsibilities here and there which lessened my free time greatly. And now, ever since my eighteenth birthday, I have been given even more responsibilities. It sometimes seems like I have no free time anymore._

_So you sit under the tree and write your letters there? I can see most of your letters are written on Sundays. If I managed to get a Sunday off of my duties, then it would be possible for me to just spend a the day in the maze and finally see the face of the person I have been writing letters to. I've received five of your letters so far, but it __still__ seems like I know so little about you. I don' know what you look like; I don't know what your hopes and dreams are, I don't even know what your real name is. You don't know much about me, either. It seems like we both are trying to keep things secret for as long as possible. Do you want to continue keeping secrets?_

_Sincerely,_

_Bird_

**-0-**

_July 7_

_Bird,_

_Fine. You win the ribbon war. Enjoy this purple ribbon._

_I do not have any reason to keep any secrets, really. I am pretty much average. And I am very curious to know more about you. Maybe we should arrange a meeting one day so we can just sit and talk. If my mom knew that I was writing letters to a complete stranger, I think she wouldn't like it. She would probably warn me about murderers and all the other evil people in the world. But I have enjoyed reading your letters and writing responses, and I do not think you are out to kill me or worse._

_When I first walked through the maze, I got lost and someone helped me find my way through the maze. Then, the next time I was in the maze and tried to find the exit, I ran into the same person. He recently turned eighteen and has memorized the maze. Could that person possibly be you, Bird? He said his name is Jonathan and he has brown hair._

_Sincerely,_

_Rose_

_P.S. I have red hair and brown eyes._

**-0-**

_July 10_

_Rose,_

_I will enjoy the ribbon as long as you like this purple ribbon._

_I can honestly promise you that I am not a murderer and I do not ever wish to be. For all I know, an old man might have found my letters instead of you. I think it turned out a lot better that someone like you responded though. I don't think these letters would be as interesting if someone else has found the bottle._

_No, I am not Jonathan. He is a very good friend of mine and we look quite a bit alike, which surprises many people considering we are not related. He never told me about helping a girl out a maze twice, though. Maybe if I ask him he would remember seeing you … But I haven't told him very much about our letters, though. He knows that you are a girl and that is pretty much it._

_So you have red hair and brown eyes? That sounds very lovely. I have brown hair and my eyes are the same color as the feathers of a bird in a picture book I read to my little sister._

_Sincerely,_

_Bird_

**-0-**

_July 14_

_Dear Bird,_

_You are not Jonathan, but you are friends with him. That is very interesting. Maybe if I run into him again I can ask him about __you__. And not being some kind of crazy murderer is very good. I'm sure your family is very happy about that._

_Most people in Spelika have brown hair and I have no idea what color feathers the bird has so I have no idea what color your eyes are. They could be any color, which means that you could be pretty much anyone. Red hair, on the other hand, is very uncommon which means that there aren't very many people I could be. I do not find that to be very fair. Then again, I have nothing at all to hide. Do you?_

_Sincerely,_

_Catharine, but please call me Rose_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to **_Pokemonchen_**, _**HauntedApple, LeyahRayne, **_and _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	16. 2-16 Cinnamon Bread

_**Part 2: In Partnership**_

_**Chapter 16: Cinnamon Bread**_

_The Twentieth of July_

_Griffs - 0_

_Eaglle - 1_

_Hawkks - 8_

_Dukks - 14_

_Sparrs - 31_

_Total byrds: 231_

**-0-**

It was near closing time and I had shop duty one again. The last customer had just left, and I was just putting away the money of that customer when another lady stepped into the shop. She was older, with wrinkles concentrated especially around her eyes. Her hair was silvery gray and styled in a bun. The woman stood rigidly straight and glanced around the shop, her dark eyes hardly pausing over anything in the room until she saw me. Brushing off imaginary dust off her long navy blue dress (for surely there was no dust on her to begin with. She seemed to be that person who was always perfectly neat), she walked up to me.

"Hello," I said. "How can I help you?" I hoped that she just wanted a loaf of bread or something so I would be able to close up the shop, but she didn't appear to be the kind of lady who would go out and buy her own bread, if you know what I mean. She was obviously from money and her kind usually sent one of the servants to buy or make the bread.

"I sent one of my servant girls to buy bread earlier this afternoon," the woman started. I'm sure a little smile quickly flashed across my face because I had been right about her being _that_ kind of woman with servants. "Instead of my regular bread, she brought me back cinnamon bread."

Oh no, I knew where this was going. When I had first woken up, I was supposed to have kitchen duty so I went into the kitchen and started to make the first few loaves of bread for the day. Everything was going well and the dough was rising nicely when I got a little adventurous (considering the bread I was making was supposed to be regular white bread) and made a loaf of cinnamon bread. I was going to save that one loaf of bread for myself because I was unsure of how good the bread was going to turn out. I set it aside and went back to work cooking the regular things. Sometime while my back was turned the cinnamon bread made its way into the shop and was quickly sold before I had noticed that the bread was gone. When I finally noticed that the bread was gone, I decided to take shop duty for the rest of the day.

I cringed and began to say, "Ma'am, I am so sor–"

She interrupted me wish a wave of her hand and said, "Who made it?"

"Me," I answered meekly before quickly adding, "I wasn't planning on selling it. I am very sor–"

Again she interrupted me as I was trying to apologize. "I would like _you_ to make ten more loaves made exactly the same way by Monday morning. Would that be possible?"

My eyes widened. She wanted _more_? I was about to nod enthusiastically that I could make them even though Sunday was supposed to be my free day when I suddenly thought of Bird. He probably would have written already and would expect me to write back. If I took up the lady's offer, it would probably take up the time I usually spent in the maze. Inwardly I sighed and decided I would reply a week late. I forced a big smile and to the woman I said, "That could easily be arranged, ma'am."

"Good." I hadn't noticed that she was carrying a small clutch bag earlier, but she suddenly had it opened and it sounded like she was shifting a few coins around inside it. Then, she pulled one out and placed it in my hand. "I am assuming this shall be enough. Keep the change. I shall send a girl to pick up the bread on Monday."

I heard her walking out of the bakery shop, but I didn't watch her go. I was too mesmerized by the coin in my hand. I was golden and fairly large. I was holding a griff! Two hundred byrds in a single coin. The woman had definitely overpaid. Oh goodness.

"Mouse!" I called out and basically ran into the kitchen. "Mouse! You have to see what I have!"

"What is it?" my best friend said as she walked over to me. I showed her the coin in my hand and her jaw dropped. "What in the world did you do to get that?"

I told her about the bread experiment and then about the lady. Mouse looked surprised, but didn't question anything about my story. When I finished. She finally spoke again. "You're going to have to make one more loaf for me to try. If it's really that good then maybe we'll have to have you make it and sell it in the shop from now on."

I laughed and together we made our way over to the money jar. I dropped the coin down inside of it and then went back into the shop to flip the sign in the window so people would know that we were closed. After that, we told pathetic little jokes as we cleaned and organized the shop up a bit as if that day was like any other.

Nothing out of the normal happened the rest of the day, but I couldn't help but to think of Bird. Why couldn't I keep him out of my thoughts?

**-0-**

I stood on the highest branch of a gigantic tree in the middle of a forest. I was definitely dreaming. If I had been awake, there would have been no possible way for me to climb up such a tall tree. I probably would have broken my neck trying to climb up. But what was I doing in the middle of a forest? I looked around, trying to see if there was anything around other than trees. I could spot a brown bird flying right above the treetops a little distance away. It was flying closer to me but then suddenly dove down under the cover of the trees.

"Do not fall," a voice said behind me. I jumped a little and nearly fell, but found my balance and looked over my shoulder to see Wiltera flying next to the tree so she was a little higher than I was.

"Don't sneak up on me," I said, looking away so I could look down while trying to sit down on the branch I was standing on.

Wiltera flew in front around the tree so I could see her and shrugged. "You should jump," she said as I was struggling to sit down. "There is nothing to see up here."

I flashed her a confused look before looking back down at my feet. I said, "But didn't you just say not to fall?" I moved my foot just a little and then found myself successfully sitting down on the branch.

"Yes, I did just say that. But falling and jumping are not the same thing, now are they? So jump down and … Stop shaking your head! Still no? Fine then, we will just have to do this my way then." With that, she quickly moved behind me and gave me a firm push, sending me falling down. I shouted, but when I saw the brown bird sitting on a high branch of a nearby tree. Then I remembered that I was in my own dream, which meant that I could control it.

Instantly, I slowed down and gracefully (or as gracefully as I could get considering everything) floated down until my bare feet touched the leaf-covered floor of the forest. I glanced back up at the sky, waiting for Wiltera to suddenly appear. But of course she wouldn't appear like that, so when I felt a finger tapping me on the shoulder, I turned around to see Wiltera standing behind me. I didn't jump this time because I was partially expecting it. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

"So has anything interesting happened recently?" Wiltera asked me. "Anything even semi-interesting?"

I was about to say no, but then I remembered the griff coin. I quickly filled my dream visitor in on what had happened at the bakery that day, but Wiltera didn't seem the least bit surprised at what had happened. Then again, she nearly never looked surprised about _anything_ I told her. Almost as if she was expecting most of it.

"And how about you?" I asked Wiltera.

"Oh, nothing new with me." She always said that without fail in the same unenthusiastic voice. Expecting her to actually say "good" or "bad" would be ridiculous.

I walked around in circles, kicking a few leaves around. This was usually the part when Wiltera would say her goodbyes and vanish from my dream. But for some reason, she was sticking around this time. In fact, she had created a little hammock which she strung up between two random trees. Wiltera was laying down in it as it swung back and forth slightly. Her eyes were closed and her dark hair fanned out around her. She wasn't sleeping though; I could hear her soft humming.

I walked over to a tree and sat down so I was leaning against it. I looked around and saw the same brown bird on the branch of a tree. It was almost like the bird was watching me. And then, suddenly, it stretched its wings and leaped off the branch. It was weaving around the tree trunks and I lost sight of it.

From the corner of my eye, I saw something else move around the trees to my right. I turned and saw a person with long blonde hair running away, quickly disappearing among the trees.

Even though I had practically just sat down, I stoop up at the same time Wiltera sat up.

"Did you see something?" she asked.

I shook my head. "This is just a dream anyway," I said. "Anything is possible."

"Anything is possible, indeed. I think that is my cue to leave. Goodbye, Catharine." She didn't stay long enough to hear my say goodbye back. She vanished with a flash of light and a burst of searing heat.

I walked over to the hammock that was conveniently left behind and sat in it while I waited for a normal dream to begin.

**-0-**

Mouse's face scrunched up as she took a bite of a slice from the cinnamon bread. She quickly chewed and swallowed and then instantly went to get a cup of water which she gulped down. "Did you really make the original with that much cinnamon?" she asked. "Because that was a lot, even by my standards."

"Yes, I did," I said, reaching for what was left of Mouse's slice. I ripped off a piece and popped it into my mouth. Instantly, I wondered what in the world the lady had liked about the original loaf I had made. Something was way off about this loaf, the amount of cinnamon being the most noticeable of the problems. As soon as I swallowed, I said, "And that'll be the last loaf of cinnamon bread I ever make!"

"Hey, practice makes perfect," Mouse offered, "and _someone_ likes it." She shrugged, watching me put the last of the ten loaves of bread on a little pile I had made.

"I don't want to push my luck to see if anyone else likes it!" I eyed my pile and then decided that I should take it into the shop before we opened up. "Could you give me a hand, please?" I asked my best friend, motioning towards the bread.

"Of course," she said, grabbing a few of the loaves and following me into the shop. I set them down in an empty basket and went back into the kitchen to grab a few more.

"So what do you think she's going to do with all of this bread?" Mouse asked, setting down the last loaf. She went over to the window of the shop to flip the sign so it said we were open.

"I don't know. Give it to family or friends at a party, maybe? That seems a bit more plausible than her sitting down and eating them all. Does it really matter?"

"Nope!" Mouse said, popping the P.

Already tired, I sat down. I made most of the bread the previous night because I knew there would be no way for me to make ten loaves the morning of the pick-up. That meant that not all of the bread would be served fresh out of the oven, but there was no way to get around it. The best I could do was wrap up the bread in a few large napkins to try to keep it warm and then get up very early to make the last batch before opening up the shop.

I felt someone poking me in the side. I hadn't realized that I had closed my eyes until I opened them up and saw Mouse standing above me.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. Now isn't the time to sleep!"

I mumbled, "I wasn't sleeping … Just resting my eyes, I guess."

"You guess. Ha." Mouse smiled and walked away, leaving me alone in the shop. I yawned for the millionth time that morning and stretched as the first customer of the day walked in. It was a fairly young girl. She had brown hair tied up into a loose bun and big brown eyes. Her dress was very simple but fit her very well. The girl was holding a large basket.

"Good morning," I said to the girl.

"Good morning," she echoed, moving over to me. "I'm supposed to pick up the cinnamon bread."

I showed her the basket where I had but the bread and together we placed the loaves into her basket. "Can you hold all of that?" I asked her as she lifted up the full basket.

"I can, but could you please open up the door for me?" she asked. I said that I could and held the open the door for the girl. She murmured a soft thank-you and then headed out of the shop.

The lady had paid up two hundred birds for some nasty bread, I realized a moment later, and I still had no idea why. Then again, it was her own business. She got her bread and I got the money.

I smiled as a new customer walked into the shop, trying to change my thoughts from how sleepy I felt and the lady to the new work day. Then I yawn yet again. It was going to be a long_, long_ day.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Pokemonchen, LeyahRayne, **HauntedApple**, **_and___Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	17. 2-17 Cookies and Customers

_**Part 2: In Partnership**_

_**Chapter 17: Cookies and Customers**_

_The Twenty-seventh of July_

_Griffs - 1_

_Eaglle - 1_

_Hawkks - 8_

_Dukks - 15_

_Sparrs - 35_

_Total byrds: 440_

**-0-**

I was in the bakery's kitchen, working on some cookies. I assumed that some of the local children would either badger their parents for the money to buy a cookie before we closed or I would be able to eat them on my day off. It was still fairly early in the day, so we still had some time before closing.

Mouse was working in the shop for the first time in what seemed like ages. She liked the kitchen too much, and seeing as how there was something special about the way she cooked that made her baked goods the best out of the rest of us, Gwen and I usually just let her stay there. But even she agreed that is was due time for her to take her turn in the shop.

I placed the cookies in the oven and started to clean off the bowl I had used to make the dough. Despite Gwen's warning look, I couldn't help but to eat bite of the dough that had been left over. It was just too good to waste! I chuckled as Gwen shook her head with a slightly exasperated look. I offered the bowl to her, but she pushed it back to me and told me to clean it off instead of eating.

I wiped off a bit of dough that was stuck to my fingers on my apron (it was going to get washed soon, anyway) and went over to the sink with the mixing bowl in my hand. Regretfully, I washed it off, knowing that Gwen would not let me make cookies again for a long time if she caught me eating more of the dough.

"Anything else you want to me wash off?" I asked Gwen as I set down the bowl to dry.

She carried over a couple of things for me to wash and said, "Thanks, Cat. You're so sweet for offering."

"Don't mention it," I muttered and started cleaning off her things too. Time seemed to pass fairly quickly as I finished them off. I even grabbed a clean towelette which I used to dry everything off. After seeing that my cookies still needed another minute to cook, I put away the now squeaky clean cooking things and peered over Gwen's shoulder at what she was making. Bread. What else would a bakery make a lot of every day?

Finally, I checked on my cookies once again and was satisfied with how they looked. Carefully, I pulled them out of the oven and set them down to cool. They smelled delicious. I considered eating one while they were fresh and Gwen had her back turned, but decided that I would have plenty of time to make more and eat them.

Oh how I loved cookies! They were my weakness.

"Hey, Cat," I heard Mouse say as she stepped into the kitchen. I turned around to face her. "There are some vis – I just love the smell of freshly baked cookies! Don't you?"

I smiled along with Mouse. A love of cookies was one of the commonalities we had even when were were little. "I just pulled them out. But as you were saying?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. There are some vis – "

"Are you just going to hide in here all day?" I heard a familiar voice interrupt Mouse. I looked over to see Amity standing in the doorway. She was looking very nice in a pale blue dress and her hair left down in gentle waves. "Hello, Cat!" I waved back.

"I've hardly been here for a minute!" Mouse said to Amity. To me, she said, "I was trying to say we have visitors who would like to see you, but one of the visitors has taken it upon herself to tell you that."

I laughed and told them I would be out of the kitchen in just a minute. The two walked away and Gwen said she would keep cooking while I was busy socializing. I chuckled at her statement before moving the cookies on to a plate.

Pushing the curtain in the doorway between the kitchen and the shop aside, I stepped into the next room with the warm plate of cookies in my hands. I set them down as soon as I could and then glanced at who all was visiting. Amity and Mouse were in the room, as expected, but so were Arvin and another person.

I blinked a few times, thinking for a second I was imagining things. But no, Jonathan was still standing there next to Arvin, smiling.

"Hello there, Catharine," he said nonchalantly. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Mouse looked confused, her eyes darting between me and Jonathan. "You two know each other? I only met Jonathan today."

"He helped me get through the maze in the gardens when I got lost," I replied. My friend slowly nodded, still a bit confused, but accepting what I said.

Arvin decided to step in then. "We were going to ask Stephan to come too because he doesn't have much planned for today, but he's been acting strangely lately."

"Girl problems," Jonathan laughed. The twins both raised an eyebrow at that, which was kind of funny if you ask me, but said nothing.

"So, we all know each other now, good," I said, stepping in before things got silent and awkward. "Would anyone like some fresh cookies?" I grabbed the plate once more and held it out to everyone.

Arvin was about to be the first one to grab one, but his had stopped right before he touched one. "How much are you selling them for?" I told him, and he reached into his pocket and handed me enough money to cover all of the cookies. He then lifted the entire plate out of my hands and began to offer the cookies to everyone.

"Hey now, you don't have to pay!" I tried to say, but Arvin was going to have none of it.

"We're visiting during work hours, so therefore we have to pay for what we eat here," he reasoned. Everyone except me had taken a cookie off the plate, so I just nodded and took one for myself. Arvin ginned and set the plate down so he could grab not just one or two cookies, but three.

"What do you think Jonathan?" Amity asked after she finished eating her cookie. "Is that not yummy or what?"

"It's very good, but you seem to forget that I was the one that first suggested that you come here." He reached past Arvin to steal another cookie off the plate for himself and began to eat it.

Amity pursed her lips for a moment and then suddenly stuck out her tongue at him. It was nice to see the princess acting so casually around someone who wasn't me, Mouse, or Arvin for once. That said something about their friendship.

The cookies were very quickly eaten, Arvin making sure that there wasn't even the smallest crumb left on the plate. And since he had paid for them, it was no surprise that he had also eaten a majority of the cookies. The bottomless pit known as his stomach never ceased to amaze me. He sure could eat a lot!

Amity and Arvin took turns filling us in on the crazy little mini-adventures they had taken since they had last visited us. I would sneak a quick peak at Jonathan from the corner of my eye as the twins went on and on. He had cut his brown hair so that his gray eyes were visible to the world. I noticed too late that his eyes flicked over to me and caught mine staring at him.

Arvin delivered the punchline to a joke and Mouse laughed. Jonathan took the brief pause a second later to cut in.

"Would you mind if I stole Catharine for a minute?" he asked, mainly looking at Mouse.

They were confused – shoot, so was I – but everyone else nodded and Jonathan took my arm and together we walked into the kitchen. Gwen must have taken a little break and had gone upstairs because she wasn't in the kitchen.

"So, Jonathan-I-am-a-squire, what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked, leaning against a kitchen counter while he stood in front of me a few steps away.

"I passed my tests. I'm a knight now," he pointed out. He puffed out his chest a prideful stance.

"That's very good, Sir Jonathan. But really, what do you want?"

"I've been asked about you by a very good friend of mine," he said plainly. "Would you like to know who was asking me?"

"Bird." No question about it. Bird had talked to Jonathan! Then guilt washed over me as I remembered Bird again. I was planning to finally go read and respond to his letter the next day, on Sunday.

"That's what he said you'd know him as. He told me he was writing letters and had just found out a bit about the mystery person he was writing to. I told him about our run-ins in the maze and that seemed to answer most of his questions."

"And what were his questions?" I softly asked.

"This and that," Jonathan replied, not actually giving me an answer. Maybe my time with Wiltera was starting to affect me because I didn't dig any further.

"You know," he said, taking a step closer to me, "if I knew that such a pretty girl would respond to my letters in a bottle, I would have started leaving them a long time ago."

I felt warmth rush to my face. I could only imagine how red my blush was turning my face! "Er, thanks?" I looked down at my feet.

"You're very welcome, Catharine," I heard him say. Next thing I know, he has a finger under my chin, pulling me head up so I am looking at him. I was frozen like a statue.

Jonathan grinned and his hand fell down to his side as Mouse suddenly walked into the kitchen. "Hey, am I interrupting anything?" she asked. Jonathan and I shook out heads. "Okay, because I think the lady from last week is back, Cat. She wants to talk to you."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Pokemonchen, LeyahRayne, **_and _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	18. 2-18 Identified

_**Part 2: In Partnership**_

_**Chapter 18: Identified**_

_The Twenty-seventh of July_

_Griffs - 1_

_Eaglle - 1_

_Hawkks - 8_

_Dukks - 15_

_Sparrs - 35_

_Total byrds: 440_

**-0-**

I stood there surprised for a second before shaking it off. "Oh, okay," I said. "Let's not keep her waiting." Without even looking back at Jonathan, I quickly walked out of the room, leaving a slightly confused Mouse glancing between me and Jonathan. She soon followed me and then Jonathan walked out of the kitchen behind my friend.

The woman stood next to the desk where customers paid, looking pretty much the exact same as I saw her last time. Her gray hair was pulled back into a tight bun again and her long dress was a very deep shade of green. The lady's dark eyes immediately met mine as I walked into the room.

"Hello, ma'am," I said, trying to ignore the fact that my friends were just watching me and the mystery woman. "I hope that you found the cinnamon bread you bought last time to be acceptable." She nodded slightly and I continued, "What can I help you with this time?"

"I would like five pies by tomorrow afternoon," she simply said, holding up a gold coin so that everyone in the shop could see.

Before I could say anything, I heard Jonathan speak up from behind me. "Oh! Catharine, I meant to tell you that – "

I held up my hand to signal him to hush up. "Not right now, Jonathan." My mind was a jumble of thoughts as I tried to think of how to respond to the woman. Jonathan made me think of Bird, and Bird made me think of responding tomorrow, which I wouldn't be able to do if I was in the bakery cooking an order on my free day.

"What kind of pies do would you want them to be?" I asked. She glanced around the room and said she would like blueberry. How funny, that when Amity and Arvin were around she wanted blueberry pie, the same kind of pie we ate on the first day we met.

"I think we should have enough blueberries, right Mouse?" I asked, turning to my friend. She slowly nodded and, facing the lady again I said, "In that case, I should be able to make them all before closing time, if you'd rather that. We usually do not work on orders on Sundays."

"Excellent. Make them today, then." The lady took a step closer to me and then held out the griff. "Spend it on something special," she said as the coin was placed in my hand.

"Spend it something special," I softly echoed under my breath. The mysterious rich lady had no idea. And then I had an idea as she was walking out of the shop. "What is your name? Er, so I can make sure that the right person gets your order."

"Wiltera Vinal." My eyes widened and I accidentally dropped the griff, allowing to to roll around on the floor. I didn't move to go pick it up. The lady just smirked and walked out of the shop.

Arvin was the first person to move as the door shut behind her. He went over to where the coin was on the floor and picked it up, inspecting it. "Has the price of blueberry pie gone up, or did she overpay you?"

Mouse took the coin from him and tried to put it in my hand. "It hasn't changed. She paid with a griff last time, too."

I looked down at the coin. Wiltera Vinal. _Wiltera_. Before my dream visitor had started coming, I had never known anyone with a name even remotely similar and suddenly I knew _two_? What were the odds of that?

"Well, it looks like you have some work to do," Amity said, grabbing Arvin's arm. "I guess that is our signal to leave."

That snapped me out of the funny zone I was in, and I faced my friends. "You don't have to go yet," I said. "What were you trying to tell me earlier, Jonathan?"

Jonathan's eyes flickered around everyone in the room, as if he was suddenly unsure if he should tell me whatever he wanted to say then. Clearing his throat first, quickly blurted out, "Bird is in the maze today."

He was trying to tell me that if I wanted to meet him I could. Did I want to? A little part of me did, but another part of me was saying that seeing him would kill the mystery and that I should just stay in the bakery making blueberry pies.

"Who is Bird?" Mouse asked, at the same time Amity said, "Bird? As in Sarina's nickname for Stephan?" Mouse gave the princess an incredulous look, and Amity said, "Have you met my brother, Cat?"

In my mind, it was as if the sky was falling down, but at the same time, everything was becoming clearer. Jonathan and Bird knew each other because Jonathan was friends with the prince and princesses. He liked spending time in the maze. He had many responsibilities. He recently turned eighteen years old. His siblings, the twins, were a dynamic duo. How did I miss all of that? How could I have been so blind?

I pulled the apron I was waring still off and threw it at Jonathan. "Mouse, when Gwen comes down could you please take over kitchen duty and start making the pies? You all can just stay here if you want and talk to her if you want. I am so sorry, Mouse. I'll explain later. Or you could have Jonathan explain some to you. He knows the basics," I said quickly in one breath. I am not sure if they could even understand everything I said, but either way, I turned around and ran out of the shop. I could only imagine the looks Mouse, Jonathan, Amity and Arvin were giving me. However, I could hear Jonathan shouting behind me, "Tell him I approve!"

Running like a madwoman and receiving glares from many of the people around me, I could only say sorry to the people I bumped into slightly and keep running. Dead tired, I stopped as soon as I reached the gardens. I hadn't even reached the maze yet. Getting cold feet was no fun, I tell you. Doubts were going through my mind and I was regretting rushing out of the bakery in such an impolite way. And if I did decide to go into the maze, what would I say to him?

But I was so close. I squeezed my hands into fists out of frustration and then realized that in one of my hands I was still holding the griff. It shined in the sunlight, and I quickly slipped it into my pocket before anyone around me could see it.

I sighed. There was no going back, so I slowly began walking towards the maze. Then I was walking through it. Finally, I was just one turn from walking into the dead-end where the tree was. I could still turn around. But if I took just one more step, I'd see him if he was there. One more step.

Leaning forward, I peeked around the corner. At first, I didn't see anyone there. Disappointment filled me, and I stepped closer to the tree. That's when I noticed that there was someone on the other side of the tree. As quickly as it came, the disappointment was gone and I crept over to the tree. A guy with brown hair was leaning back on the tree. He hadn't noticed me yet so I walked right in front of him. Bird – I was sure it had to be him – had dark circles under his eyes, so it was only a slight surprise that he was sleeping. In his hand he had the bottle, with two hair ribbons tied around the neck instead of one. I reached up and touched the green ribbon that I had tied up my hair with. It was one that Bird had given me and it went very well with the green dress I had worn that day.

He was quite handsome, I have to say. And he looked calm sleeping the day away. Other people would have let him sleep, probably, but I walked closer to him and tapped his shoulder. He didn't move at all. So I poked him again, a bit more insistently. This time his hand quickly popped up and grabbed my wrist. I gasped and he opened up his eyes, revealing bright green orbs. As soon as they focused on me, he let go and quickly moved to stand up, letting the bottle fall in the process. He bent down to grab it, but when he stood up he bumped his head on a low branch and dropped the bottle again. This time, I bent down and retrieved it.

He was rubbing the back of his head, but he was watching me while he did so. I held on to the bottle and studied him. He was Bird, and between the nice clothes he was wearing, the brown hair and green eyes, there was no denying that he was also Prince Stephan.

"Hi, Bird," I said, finally breaking the silence. "Jonathan said you'd be here."

He blinked a few times. "You're Rose. Or, should I call you Catharine?"

"Most everyone calls me Cat, but you can call me whatever you want." I shrugged. "Should I call you Bird or Prince Stephan?"

"I'll call you Rose. And … It seems that you've figured out who I am. But no formal stuff between us, please. Bird is fine." He grinned and I smiled back.

We stood there for a second, studying each other. What are you supposed to say to someone you've only talked to through letters? So I said the first thing that popped into my mind: "Jonathan said he approves."

Bird chuckled. "I called you first." Then his hand went flying to cover his mouth, as if he hadn't meant to say that. I blushed and laughed.

"You didn't even know what I look like, though," I said as soon as I stopped laughing.

Bird shook his head. "What you look like doesn't matter; I enjoy reading your letters. Besides, I knew you had red hair and brown eyes. And now I see that you are just as beautiful as I imagined you."

"Oh?" I replied. He could have imagined that I was just average looking.

He realized his mistake. "Which is to say, very beautiful, if I may say so." That brought back the blush. That made two boys who had complimented me in one day. "Why don't you sit down?"

I didn't care the least about my dress possibly getting some dirt on it before I plopped down on the ground, facing Bird as he sat back down so he was leaning against the tree.

"You're wearing a ribbon I gave you," he observed.

"I am. It is a nice, pretty ribbon."

"That's good." He paused for a second, then asked, "How did you figure out that I am a prince?"

"Besides the family resemblance? It's Jonathan's fault," I said. It sounded like Bird mumbled, "Of course it is," but I continued, "He said that Bird – you – would be in the maze, and Amity asked if he was talking about you."

"So it looks like I'll have some explaining to do to the twins, then. Great."

"_I'll_ be the one with a lot of explaining to do. I rushed out of the bakery without explaining anything to my best friend. Shoot, I left all of them cooking pies that _I_ should be making." I bit my bottom lip a little, just thinking about facing Mouse again. There was no knowing how she would react when I got back.

"But you don't live with Arvin and Amity," he said. "They will never let me forget that I didn't tell them all about you."

That was very true. "At least you have Jonathan."

"Something tells me that he will take their side, anyway."

"I can see that happening," I said. "I left them all in the bakery. We could face them together."

"We could, in theory, but I'd rather sit and talk with you a bit longer. It's nice to actually be able to talk to you for a change."

"Yeah, same here." I played with the bottle I was still holding, but soon decided to set it down on the ground beside me. "I'm glad I came."

"Same here." He couldn't stop smiling and his smile was so contagious that I couldn't stop either.

"So … Your little sister saw a picture of a green bird?" He nodded. "She's a sweet little girl."

"That she is. I forgot that you've met her before."

"I could have met you at the bakery earlier today, too, but Jonathan said you had 'girl problems.' " I think a little part of me died inside at the thought of Bird liking some other girl. But there was another little part complaining that it was too soon to be liking him. It seems I was very divided all day.

"Sorry, I was a little tired from staying up all night wondering why this one girl still hadn't written me back. Plus, Amity and Arvin kept talking about a girl with red hair and brown eyes working at the bakery they wanted me to visit and I knew that it would be a very strange way to meet you for the first time."

"This is a pretty good way to meet for the first time, besides the whole fact that I left everyone else baking blueberry pies and wondering where in the world I had run off to." I shrugged. "It's a win-lose situation."

"I'm not sure I'd rather it any other way."

"Not yet, anyway. Just wait until we see them again!" I groaned.

"If you're really all that worried, then maybe we should go see them now and sort everything out."

"But you said –"

"It doesn't matter. I'm sure that we can meet again soon." Bird stood up and held out a hand to help me up. I grabbed the bottle still on the ground with one hand and I took his hand with the other. As soon as I was standing back on two legs, I slipped the bottle into my pocket and brushed off my dress.

"We can also keep writing letters, if you want," I said.

"I'd like that." We smiled at each other and that's when he reached out and held my hand. We started walking but suddenly he stopped.

"I'm not sure I'll be able to do this in front of everyone so …" He trailed off and before I knew it, his lips were on mine. A tiny part of me was screaming, "Too fast! Stop!" but a majority of me liked it. I liked him. I _really_ liked Bird.

He quickly moved away and we were walking back to the bakery again. Still, my cheeks were red and I tightened my hold on his hand.

Mouse was going to completely freak out.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Pokemonchen**_, _**LeyahRayne**_, _**HauntedApple, **_and _Ilikemutemath_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	19. 2-19 Explanations

_**Part 2: In Partnership**_

_**Chapter 19: Explanations**_

_The Twenty-seventh of July_

_Griffs - 2_

_Eaglle - 1_

_Hawkks - 8_

_Dukks - 15_

_Sparrs - 40_

_Total byrds: 645_

**-0-**

The bakery was only a little further from where we were. The entire time we walked, I kept glancing at Bird. Sure, we talked about simple things like how busy the shops appeared to be, but we mostly focused on not accidentally getting split up in the morning crowd. I just couldn't believe the situation I was in. The crown prince of Spelika had written letters, left them in a bottle in a maze, and _I_ had found them and replied. The crown prince! Oh me oh my!

I glanced at Bird yet again, but this time he caught my eye. "Are we getting close?" he asked, moving behind me as we wove through a crowd standing in front of a store.

"It's right up here, on the left," I replied. "Can you see the sign?" Bird was fairly tall, so I was hoping that he'd be able to see over the heads of the people around us enough to spot the sign. But alas, he shook his head and I continued to lead him in the direction I knew the shop was. I could have found my way there with my eyes closed had there been no people to get in my way.

We were still holding hands (partially so that we would not get separated), so I squeezed his hand a little bit and pulled him to the left.

"I can see the sign now," he said.

I smirked. "That's good, considering we are standing right under it." I let go of his hand and went to the door, holding it open for him. Bird, however, just reached over me and held the door open for me.

"Ladies first," he said, motioning with his arm for me to walk in the shop. I thanked him and we walked into the bakery. The first person I looked for was Gwen, and I quickly spotted her. She hadn't spotted me yet because she was helping a customer with her back turned to the door. I briefly considered going over to her, but decided that it would be best to go see Mouse in the kitchen first. Maybe the twins and Jonathan were still here, too.

Quickly I made my way to the kitchen, pulling Bird behind me, but not before I heard, "You wait there one second, Cat!" from behind me. It seemed like Gwen had finished up with her customer. Slowly, I turned around to see Gwen facing me with her arms crossed. "Next time I'd like a little bit more of a warning before you go bolting out of the shop while we are open to visit someone I don't even know," she said. It was times like these that I remembered that Gwen was my guardian.

"I am so sorry, Gwen. I promise that it won't happen again," I said, shuffling my foot nervously. "Although, you technically know who I was going to see … I mean, you know _of_ him … Er, Bird, this is Gwen, Mouse's sister and the woman who looks after me. Gwen, this is Prince Stephan."

Bird held out his hand before Gwen got the chance to curtsy. "I've heard many things about you from my siblings," he said as they shook hands. I think she was a bit surprised that I had brought the prince back to the bakery, so she let go of his hand as quickly as possible out of nervousness.

"I have heard my share about you too, with you being prince and all," she said. "I better go back to helping the customers. Cat, Mouse is in the kitchen now. We'll talk later."

I nodded and waited for Gwen to turn around before leading Bird into the kitchen. What I saw surprised me, to say the least.

"I told you she'd be back quickly," Arvin said, immediately taking notice to our entrance into the room. He, along with everyone else, briefly looked up but then looked back down at whatever they were working on. Arvin was standing next to Mouse as she was working on the blueberries for the pies. He was helping with the dough in the pans that would make the crust, apparently.

"Yes," Amity said from across the room where she was kneading dough, "but you also said she'd come back alone, so I win."

"He never specifically said alone," Mouse said, defending Arvin.

"But he heavily implied it," Jonathan remarked. He was sitting in a chair by the table, flipping through a cook book instead of helping with the cooking.

I half turned back to Bird, giving a look that I thought best represented "what in the word should I say?" He just shrugged. Load of help he sure was. Inwardly, I groaned but turned back to everyone else.

"Er, hello everyone," I awkwardly began, causing everyone on the room to look up at what they were doing at me once more. "I'm really sorry for rushing out of here earlier, especially to you Mouse. I think I should probably start explaining myself now."

Bird moved so he was standing right next to me. "I have some explaining to do too. Well, not to you, Jonathan."

Said person smirked. Jonathan said, "I told them the basics already, but I figured that I'd leave the details to you."

Oh gee, thanks, Jonathan. Thanks. I bit my bottom lip and the others gathered around a little closer. Once they were satisfied with their positions, I spoke. "So first off: introductions. Mouse, this is Stephan. Bird, this is Mouse." I gave them a second. Mouse gave an odd mix of a curtsy and wave of her hand. I think spending so much time with Arvin and Amity had affected how she acted around the Fallances. She wasn't sure whether to be more formal or casual in her greeting. "Where do you want me to begin?" I asked, looking straight at Mouse.

"Jonathan already told me that you two knew each other indirectly though letters," my best friend said. "When did you start writing them? And _how_?"

"I wrote my first letter in early May," Bird said before I could answer. "I left it in the maze in a bottle. I got her first letter early June."

"Remember that day when we went on a picnic?" I asked. Once I saw nods I continued, "That's when I got lost and found the letters. From then on, whenever we replied we left our notes in the bottle by a tree. We have kept us a steady correspondence that way."

"By the tree!" Jonathan repeated, a large grin on his face. "Of course! It's the only tree in the maze, you know. I don't even know why it was put in the maze in the first place …" Jonathan started to mumble the rest to himself.

"And today is the first time you've met?" Amity asked us.

"Yes," Bird and I replied together.

A huge grin spread out on Arvin's face. "Lookie there! They're already answering as a couple. I told you that you should have come to the bakery with me sooner, Steph – ow!" Amity had elbowed Arvin in the ribs and he had yelped. Rubbing his side, he scowled at his twin for a moment before moving so that Mouse stood between him and his sister.

"You're taking the news really well, Mouse," I said, twiddling my thumbs behind my back so I could release my nervous energy somehow. "I was expecting you to bite off my head or something."

My friend then did something that I was not expecting: she winked. "I found your letters awhile ago, actually. Hey, don't give me that look! I didn't read them. And then, when you left once a week I began to suspect that you were visiting a guy. You always came back happy."

"And here I was thinking I was being so stealthy," I tried to joke.

"Hey, I have a question," Jonathan spoke up. "What now?"

"We are going to keep writing letters, I think, but we'll be seeing more of each other too." Bird's arm moved around my waist and he pulled me closer to him. Jonathan studied the two of us for a second but then gave a nod of approval.

"Good luck explaining that one to Mom and Dad," Amity said to her older brother. Panic shot through me. What would the King and Queen think about their son and heir to the throne meeting up with a girl like me, a baker girl whose father was dead and mother gone? On the other hand, Bird was unfazed by the comment.

"They'll understand if they ever meet her. Besides, they let you give her your red sash, did they not?"

"True, but I'm still not sure …" Amity said, zoning off and staring into the distance.

Arvin, who was looking a little fidgety, snapped his sister out of her little trance by bursting out, "Who cares? We are allowed to spend time with anyone we want. But more importantly, I just realized something! Catharine, Ratana, and Stephan all have nicknames involving animals: Cat, Mouse, and Bird! Can I get one?"

"Sure, Monkey-butt," Jonathan said with a straight face.

Mouse must have seen something in Arvin's eyes that showed he was about to say something rude back, so she quickly stepped in and said, "How about Bear?"

Arvin smiled. "Perfect! Now I'll have a reason to give you a bear hug!" He wrapped his arms around Mouse, catching her off guard. He picked her off the ground and she squealed.

"Put me down before I change my mind!" she said, wiggling around. Somewhat reluctantly, he set my friend down. She patted down her dress, avoiding eye contact with anyone as she blushed. Those two couldn't get much more obvious about their attraction to each other. "Shouldn't we get back to the pies?" Mouse huffed. "They don't make themselves, you know."

"As much as I'd love to stay and help – cooking is quite fun, I'm realizing – we better head back before our parents send out the troops to find us," Amity said. She took off the apron she was wearing and handed it to Mouse. Arvin, who had been wearing my apron (hopefully as a joke) also took his off.

"Oh, wow. It was great seeing you all," I said. Bird had let go of me and started to move away, but then he asked for the bottle with the letters. I reached into my pocket and held it out to him. He took it.

"No need for you to read these now that we've met," he said. "I'll try to see you again sometime soon."

A few more farewells were said in the kitchen before Jonathan, Bird, Amity and Arvin walked away. Only Mouse and I were left in the kitchen.

"You have some pies to work on, Missy," Mouse said, handing me an apron that I quickly tied on. "I'll work on the dough Amity was kneading."

I walked over to the abandoned pie ingredients and got to work. "So all is forgiven?" I asked, looking back at Mouse.

"Yes, but no more secrets, okay?"

"Of course."

I wasn't thinking about Wiltera when I agreed. Looking back, I can see that I lied. Things were about to go downhill quickly.

Funny thing about that day, though, was that even after making all the pies, no one ever came to pick the pies up.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**LeyahRayne**_, _**Pokemonchen**_, _**HauntedApple, **__Ilikemutemath, _and_ Rosaline Redd_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	20. 2-20 Karina Dressla

_**Part 2: In Partnership**_

_**Chapter 20: Karina Dressla**_

_The Third of August_

_Griffs - 2_

_Eaglle - 1_

_Hawkks - 8_

_Dukks - 15_

_Sparrs - 47_

_Total byrds: 657_

**-0-**

It had been one week since I had met Bird. Chaos had ensued in that week, but things were starting to cool down a bit. As soon as Gwen realized that I had been writing letters in secret to a stranger – no matter that that person turned out to be a prince – she made it very well known that my free Sunday was to be spent in my room as a half-punishment. Gwen didn't try to take away my books or anything, so I still had some form of entertainment. I think that she just didn't want me to spend my day in the maze writing more letters.

She couldn't stay mad for long, though. I continued to work hard in the bakery and spent my free time at Mouse's side. Not once did I go to the gardens, as much as I wanted to. Bird would understand. But anyway, one week later and I was given permission by Gwen after we closed the bakery to go to the maze for a bit on Sunday if I wanted to. I replied that I would think about it.

It had been a long day at the bakery. I was exhausted and just felt like crawling into bed and going to sleep for the rest of my days, but no. Instead I was writing into a book how much money the money jar had that day on the third of August. Over 650 byrds. I found that pretty amazing considering that two months had passed since we had started the money jar and we were over halfway to our goal with months left before we had to buy anything for the festival.

I yawned. It was definitely time to wash up and go to sleep.

**-0-**

It was raining and I was sitting in grass in the gardens. In my hands was a flower with delicate purple petals. One by one I plucked them off. And when I was done with that flower, I reached over and grabbed another. There was no reason for me to be there in the garden in the rain pulling the petals off of flowers, but I was.

"Of all things to do, why _this_?" I heard behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder to see a very familiar figure: Wiltera Vinal, my dream visitor. That meant I was dreaming, which explained a few things. But at the same time, a few questions popped into my head to ask Wiltera. I hadn't seen her since before the woman with the same name came to the bakery.

"Could you please end the rain?" Wiltera said. "I greatly prefer to be dry whenever possible." I only paused for a moment before imagining the sky clearing of the dark clouds. The ground was still wet, but Wiltera looked satisfied enough. "Good. Now you have a few things to ask me, I presume?"

"A woman came to the bakery," I immediately started while Wiltera dried off a patch of grass before sitting down. "She's older thank you by a great deal, but she has the same exact name as you. Is she your mother or something and you're name after her? Or is it a complete coincidence?"

I cannot remember if I have mentioned this before, but Wiltera's eyes almost always seemed to be devoid of emotion. She could smile or frown all she wanted, but very rarely would that happiness or sadness show in her eyes. It was strange, but it was also something I just got used to. Right that second, however, I swear that I saw glee in her eyes. One blink of an eye later, it was gone as if it never existed in the first place.

"She is not my mother." Wiltera looked away for a moment to stare into the distance in front of us. There was nothing there. "Catharine, do you trust me?"

"I guess so," I said, shrugging. "I have no reason not to. Plus, you're always getting me out of the strange situations I get myself into in my dreams."

"I know your life story, perhaps even better than you do yourself." I couldn't tell if she was joking or not. She turned so she could look at me again. Her dark eyes caught my brown ones. "It is good that you trust me, because there is no one else that you should trust more."

She didn't give me a chance to ask why. Wiltera grabbed a purple flower, studied it for a second, and then tossed it away in front of her. Where the flower fell on the ground, a translucent, life-size copy of me popped up. My copy looked like a ghost.

"That is you," Wiltera said, studying the copy of me. "Smart, pretty, but so oblivious sometimes."

The image changed so it was Mouse. "And that is your best friend," my dream-visitor said. "A talented baker with the one thing you wish you had: family, in the form of her sister. She is your only competition."

When Gwen's copy popped up, she said, "The sister who was forced to look after not only her little sister but her sister's friend. She had much responsibility she did not want put on her young shoulders."

Peter came next. "Hard working and fun loving, but as soon as you and Ratana are old enough to be on your own, he is going with his wife to live on their own. He does not want to be a father-figure to teenagers yet."

Amity popped up next in place of Peter's image. "Seemingly sweet with a pinch rebellious. She is a leader and the princess who considers you a charity case."

To the Arvin copy, Wiltera said, "Goofier than his sister, with a love for food. He does not care about you as much as he does Ratana."

A copy of Bird popped up and my heart skipped a beat. "The crown prince. He told his parents about you, and they have told him to marry a foreign princess or noble's daughter. They want him to forget about you."

Wiltera shook her head as if she was disappointed in my choice of friends. She had basically told me all of my friends did not care about me whatsoever. How did she get her information anyway? It hurt.

"I am the only person you can trust. In no way do I hate you or look to use you." I opened my mouth to protest, but nothing came out and she kept talking. "If anything, I can help you. I know where your mother is."

The image of Bird slowly dissolved away to be replaced with one of my mother. It captured her blonde hair, blue eyes, and fairy-like features even better than I remembered them. Her hair was shorter, just below her shoulders, but that was the only difference I could spot. There was not one wrinkle on her face and not one gray hair among the blondes. All-in-all, she looked like she hadn't aged a day.

"Oh my goodness," I gasped, hopping to my feet and walking over to the copy of my mother. I reached out to touch her, but my hand passed right through her. My hand fell back down to my side, but I still circled around the image, taking it all in.

"I know precisely what you have to do to see her again. I will ask again: Do you trust me?"

**-0-**

I woke up feeling different. The way I felt was difficult to describe; it was a mix of feeling fuzzy, tingly, and numb. I was not exactly sick, but something was wrong and not natural. I didn't like it at all.

I was up before anyone else in the house and took quite a bit of the money out of the money jar. Mouse never looked inside it because she wanted to be surprised in the end at how much we collected. No one else ever looked. I was the only one who ever kept track of how much money we collected.

My mother would be at the ball. Wiltera told me that it would take a fantastic dress to catch her attention and that would be the only way to speak to her. The entire thing was a bit confusing, but if Wiltera said buying a dress would be the best way to speak to my mother, I was willing to do it. And if she was also right that none of my friends cared, then there was nothing to lose.

Green. I wanted a green dress. It didn't matter that the dresses weren't my mother's (or not very much, anyway), just as long as it was a pretty shade of green.

A couple workers at the shop walked over to me and took me into a back room where they took my measurements. We talked about colors, styles, sizes, and fabrics. They wanted to know every little detail about my dream dress and I told them. They kept naming different dates when they thought the dress might be ready if they did so-and-so with blah-blah-blah fabric. I didn't really care about that details because I was ordering my dress months before it would be needed.

The dress ordering ordeal took longer than I thought it was going to and once I was finally finished I walked out of the shop and wandered aimlessly around the town for a while. All I did was waste time walking around, looking at the shop windows and at the people rushing around going from place to place with determination to finish their daily shopping painted all over their faces. It was actually quite entertaining, if I may say so.

I eventually grew bored and headed back home to the bakery. "Why were you gone so long?" Mouse asked when I walked in. She was cleaning. "You weren't in the gardens the entire time, were you?"

"Oh, no," I responded, waving my hands around. "I forgot to tell you that Wiltera Vinal, that customer who paid with griffs, had an easy job opportunity." I had no idea where this lie was coming from, but I spoke evenly and continued, "She wanted someone to babysit her niece, so I volunteered and got some money."

Out of my pocket I pulled the change I from buying the dress. I dropped them into the money jar and the sound of coins hitting each other came out of the jar. I was glad I hadn't spent everything I had brought with me to the dress shop.

"Oh, and what was this girl's name?" Mouse asked, not even looking at me as she tried to clean off a high spot just out of her reach.

"Dressla," I spurted out. "Karina Dressla. She's a sweet little girl with big brown eyes and blonde pigtails."

"That was very nice of you to help out," Mouse commented, still focusing on her cleaning.

"It was a pleasure," I said, shaking my head ever so slightly while Mouse had her back turned to me.

"Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar," was rushing through my brian over and over again. It was unsettling how suddenly easy it was for me to tell such a big lie.

And that is how I ended up spending my free Sunday not at the maze, but at a dress shop.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**HauntedApple, Pokemonchen, LeyahRayne, **_and **_Ilikemutemath_** for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	21. 2-21 Eunice Slippa

_**Part 2: In Partnership**_

_**Chapter 21: Eunice Slippa**_

_The Tenth of August_

_Griffs - ?_

_Eaglle - ?_

_Hawkks - ?_

_Dukks - ?_

_Sparrs - ?_

_Total byrds: ?_

**-0-**

I was feeling plenty of guilt during the week that followed the dress purchase. I had flat-out lied to my best friend. Wiltera came to me in my dreams at night and would tell me how things would get better if I finally got it out of my mind that Mouse was actually my friend. "I am your only real friend," she'd say. "Ratana does not care about you like I do."

Amity and Arvin didn't stop by anytime during the week. They were busy with prince and princess stuff, I guess. Neither did Jonathan. As for Bird, he didn't stop by the bakery and I never went to the maze to see if he left a letter. It's not easy to forget someone if you are always seeing them.

Instead of any of the royals visiting us, we had another visitor. Only a short time before closing Saturday afternoon, Wiltera, the older one, walked into the shop. Slowly, she strolled around and looked at some of the things that were still on the shelves. Eventually, she picked up a loaf of bread and carried it over to the desk where I was waiting.

"I have another babysitting job for you tomorrow," she said with a small smile. I tried my best not to react and just took the bit of money she was holding out. "You will get more information later, Catharine." Before I could question her how I'd get the information, Wiltera took her loaf of bread and walked out of the shop as if nothing had happened.

I blinked. Then I just stared at the door for a little while, pretty much just wondering what in the world had just happened in such a short amount of time. But then Mouse pushed aside the curtain between the rooms and walked in.

"We should probably close up now and start cleaning up," Mouse said with a sigh as she looked around the room. No one wanted to clean up right before we took our day off, but Gwen decided that she didn't want to worry about cleaning on her day off, which I completely understand.

The rest of the afternoon was fairly quiet. I cleaned up the shop while Mouse began to clean some of the kitchen (Gwen was making dinner so Mouse could only clean so much of it at the time). I could hear Mouse and Gwen talking about something, but they weren't speaking loud enough for me to make out what they were saying. I though I heard "Cat" a few times, but I wasn't one hundred percent positive that I heard correctly.

When Peter finally got home, everyone sat down at the table in the kitchen for dinner. ("Wash your hands, Peter!" Gwen scolded her husband, whose hands probably hadn't been washed all day judging by how dark they looked.)

I wasn't feeling particularly hungry, but still ate all the food on my plate while Peter talked about his day at world. Unfortunately, Peter was talking with his hands even more than usual, sending some food flying around the table. He gave a boyish grin and promised to clean his mess up and to try to avoid flinging his food around again. Gwen made a dramatic sigh, making Peter laugh as if it was the funniest thing he ever heard and Mouse just chuckle. It was a good thing Peter didn't have anything in his mouth when he started laughing like that because I am sure that he would have choked.

Needless to say, we all survived dinner and cleared off the table, leaving the bits of food scraps that had been flung around earlier to be cleaned up by Peter. Once I had finished everything that was needed of me, I went upstairs and washed off.

A little later I was squeaky clean and in my room. I grabbed a random book and sat down on my bed to read. A candle had to be lit in order to give me light to read by, but I had good eyes and that one candle was enough.

I looked up from my book when Mouse finally walked into the room. She looked distracted, chewing her bottom lip as she grabbed a brush and ran in through her hair.

Back when we were still very little, I remember how Ratana went through a phase where she absolutely would not ever stop talking. She'd go on and on about how she was feeling, questions that randomly popped into her head, observations she just couldn't keep to herself. Even though the nonstop chattering could get annoying, in some ways I also missed it. She was open and never held anything back so I would try my best to be the same way with her. If anything, it brought us closer.

But Wiltera had me questioning my current relationship with Mouse. It seemed like everything else Wiltera had said was true, from the occasional weather prediction ("It is going to ran tomorrow, stay indoors," she once said despite there being not been one cloud in the sky the day before.) to the number of customers that would come to the shop on a certain day, to how to get rid of the monsters that always seemed to be in my dreams. If she felt like giving answers, then her answer would be right every time; if she didn't feel like answering … Well, I wouldn't necessarily get any answers then.

I set my book down and reached underneath my bed and felt around for a box. Gently picking it up, I placed it in my lap and opened it up. Ignoring the rolled up ribbon to focus on the treasure laid on top of it, I gently pulled out my necklace with the rose pendant. The light caught on the stones in just the perfect way to make them sparkle. I held it close to my heart for a moment, briefly wishing myself a world away before setting it down inside the box and shifting the ribbon on top of it. Then I closed the box and placed it back underneath my bed.

I glanced over at Mouse and saw that she was laying in bed tucked underneath the covers, her eyes closed.

I leaned over and blew out the candle.

**-0-**

I stood in the middle of a lake. Yes, you read that correctly: I stood in the middle of a lake. The water wasn't frozen or anything, but I was standing barefoot on top of it. Everything was perfectly still, making the water look like a giant mirror reflecting the cloudless orange and pink sky. I could see the shore a long distance away. There was nothing to do in the middle of a lake, so I took a step forward.

It was like something just broke then. Instead of walking over the water, my foot slipped into it. Droplets of water splashed around everywhere and ripples quickly broke the still lake surface. My entire body was suddenly underwater.

Flailing. Splashing. Drowning. I couldn't get back to the surface to breathe again. I was slipping deeper and deeper into the water.

Then a hand grabbed mine. I was pulled up, towards the surface. My entire body was yanked out of the water and set down on a hard surface.

Spluttering and coughing in an attempt to get the water out of my lungs, I took a second to register my surroundings. I wasn't anywhere near the middle of a lake. In fact, I was sprawled out on the floor of the bakery. I was dripping water everywhere. My feet were still bare and my drenched blue dress clung to my body. Surprisingly, around my neck was my rose necklace, although it looked completely dry.

I pushed my dripping hair out of my face and looked up to see Wiltera towering above me, smirking and crossing her arms. "Have a nice swim?" she asked as we made eye contact.

Ignoring that comment, I stood up and gathered my hair together and started to squeeze the water out. Who cared if I left a gigantic puddle in the middle of the shop in my dream? The worst that could happen would be that I slipped on my own puddle.

"Oh, I see," Wiltera said. "Cats do not like getting wet! How precious!" She laughed at her own joke. I continued to squeeze out the water. "Okay, okay," she said. "Grumpy kitty does not like my joke, fine. How about I jump to the chase and run you though tomorrow's plan?"

"If you stop the cat jokes, maybe I'll listen," I grumbled. Where was a towel when I needed one?

"Deal. How does a little shoe shopping sound?" She didn't wait for my response before continuing, "You will wake up in the morning and take money out of the jar. You should be the first one to wake up again. Now follow me and I shall show you the way to the shop I want you to visit." Wiltera spun around and held open the door for me.

I stepped outside of of course it started to pour down out of nowhere. I let out a frustrated growl but followed Wiltera anyway. As much as I liked listening to the rain, being in it was a different matter.

"It is going to rain tomorrow, so do not bother trying to change it. Deal with it," Wiltera said without turning around.

I hadn't thought about the fact that I could control my dreams. But if Wiltera said I shouldn't then I wasn't going to change anything.

We walked through empty streets and the rain to the entrance of a little shop. "Here," Wiltera said, standing by the door. "Get the shoes here. Choose a gold fabric for your slippers, maybe?"

"Oh joy," I mumbled, not loving the idea of golden shoes.

"They will catch people's attention," Wiltera pointed out. "Like your mother's."

A thought popped into my mind. "And what is my excuse this time?"

"I thought that you were told there was going to be a babysitting opportunity." A small smile danced across her lips as she raised a hand up to touch her necklace.

Right. Lie again. What would this little girl look like?

**-0-**

I woke up early. I guessed that everyone else would probably walk up soon if I didn't hurry up and get out of there.

Treading that fine line between getting ready for the day quickly and quietly, I dressed and was ready to go in a short amount of time. Going downstairs carefully so as to not make a lot of noise, I went over to where the money jar was. I reached into it and pulled out a handful of money. Then I left, going out into the rain. It was pouring and because it was so early, there weren't very many people who were out on the streets. Sure, I got pretty wet, but it could have been worse.

Surprisingly, the shop was open, so I walked right in and ordered my shoes. They didn't have my size in a style or the color I needed, so just like the dress, I just put them on order so they would make them later.

With the rain still pouring down, I decided to wander around for a little while. I visited the bookstore and looked around at all the shelves. I wouldn't buy anything, but who said I couldn't look?

The rain eventually let up a bit, so that is when I chose to go back to the bakery. Back home. Back to face Mouse.

I pushed open the door and walked in. Pulling out the change I still had, I dropped it unto the jar and looked around for Mouse. She wasn't in the kitchen, so I thought perhaps she was upstairs But when I checked up there, I still didn't see her. At that point, I figured that she had gone out. There were things to do and places to be, I guess.

I went upstairs and grabbed the book I had been reading the previous night. Finding a comfortable chair, I settled down and lost myself in the imaginary world created by the author … Until I felt a tap on my shoulder. I jumped, knocking over the chair as I did so and landed right on my rear on the hard floor.

"Mouse!" I exclaimed, looking over to see her covering her mouth in surprise at my reaction.

"Oops," Mouse said, her hand moving to rub the back of her neck. "Where'd you go this morning?"

"Oh, I was just babysitting another girl for a little while. Eunice Slippa," I said, having at least a bit of a plan this time around. "She wanted me to read her stories at first and then had me braid her hair. It was pretty long and the exact same shade of brown as her eyes, if maybe a little bit darker. Her eyes, that is. Her eyes might have been a little bit darker than her hair, but … I'm rambling so I'm just going to shut up now."

"Uh, okay," Mouse said. "I'll let you get back to your book." She turned around and walked out of the room. As soon as I saw that she was gone, I let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**HauntedApple, Pokemonchen, Daliah Valley, **__LeyahRayne, _and_ Brimo_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	22. 2-22 Angel Maskel

_**Part 2: In Partnership**_

_**Chapter 22: Angel Maskel**_

_The Fifteenth of August_

_Griffs - ?_

_Eaglle - ?_

_Hawkks - ?_

_Dukks - ?_

_Sparrs - ?_

_Total byrds: Still no idea. Afraid to count._

**-0-**

It rained on and off the next few days after I went out and bought the slippers. By the time Thursday, the fifteenth of August rolled around it was still raining and there were some deliveries that had to be made from the bakery to a few clients. As luck would have it, I drew the short straw and was chosen to be the one to drop off the goods. Let me tell you, the absolute worst days to make deliveries are when the weather is bad because it means that not only do you have to carry around all the food, but you also have to carry what the food is being packaged in. To prevent the food from getting wet in the rain, it is wrapped in an extra cloth or two, possibly even put inside a big crate. My point is, it isn't fun in the least.

Thankfully, that day there were only a couple of places to stop by. One person ordered a few baguettes and another person wanted a platter full of pastries. I was just about ready to leave the bakery to make the deliveries when Mouse stopped me to give me another piece of cloth.

"I have the food wrapped up just fine," I said, pointing to the small wooden crate that held the baguettes and the pastries. The baguettes were just wrapped together in cloth, while the pastries were in a small basket the was covered in cloth. The most water-resistant cloth we had was draped across the top of the crate, hopefully keeping all the rain off the food.

Mouse shook her head. She grabbed my hand and put the plain cloth in it. "It's for you, dummy. Wrap it so it covers your head."

"Oh," I said. "I knew that. Thanks." I quickly moved to start wrapping the cloth on my head. It would mostly serve only to help keep my hair dry and would still let my dress get rained on, but it was appreciated nonetheless.

With my hair covered completely, I bent down to grab the wooden crate. I adjusted my position so carrying it would be a bit more comfortable and then headed out the door of the bakery into the rain.

The first customer lived only a short walk away, but I walked quickly so as to spend as little time in the rain as possible anyway. As soon as I reached the door, I carefully repositioned the crate so I was holding in with one arm and knocked on the door. The little area I was waiting in by the door was covered thanks to the large overhanging eave. While I waited for someone to answer the door, I moved aside the cloth on top of the crate and pulled out the basket of pastries.

A woman answered the door. "Can I help you?" she asked.

I held out the basket towards her. "I have your order from _The Hans Family Bakery_ right here." I listed off the specific names of the pastries she ordered as she took the basket from me.

The woman moved the cloth on the basket so she could inspect the pastries. Satisfied with what she saw, she gave a slight nod and said, "Wait right here." She walked away, back into the house. A moment later, she came back with the basket and handed it back to me. All that was left in the basket was the cloth I had covered it in.

I placed the basket in the crate and then moved the large cloth so it covered all the top again. I then accepted the money the woman gave me and with a quick thanks, I turned around to make the final delivery as the woman closed the door.

My next stop was a bit further away. I tried my best to stay in the covered areas as much as I could, but it was impossible to stay completely out of the rain. I hoped that the baguettes remained still dry. What a disappointment it would have been if I had gone through all the rain just to realize the bread was wet and therefore not fit for sale.

When I reached the next house, I knocked on the door and waited until someone answered it before taking the baguettes out because there was no overhang to protect me from the rain this time. As soon as I saw someone, I said pretty much the same thing that I said at the other house and pulled out the wrapped baguettes from the crate and handed them to the man in the doorway as fast as I could. He unwrapped the cloth from the bread and examined the baguettes. Satisfied, he handed me the cloth back (which was just shoved into the crate) and dug around in his pockets for money to give me. Meanwhile, I was waiting in the rain. As soon as he handed over the coins, I said a very quick goodbye and started my journey back to the bakery.

Of course that is when the lightning and thunder started up. I began to walk even faster so I could get back sooner. But as the familiar door of the bakery was in sight, I slipped. Falling butt-first into a puddle, I sat on the ground surprised for a moment before scrambling back up on my feet. I groaned, but didn't bother to inspect my rear end because I was sure that I was already wet everywhere else. As soon as I righted myself with the crate in my arms, I finished my trip back to the bakery.

I pushed oped the door and handed the crate to Gwen, who was running the shop at the time. Crate-free, I went through the kitchen, only stopping to say a brief hello to Mouse (I wasn't in a dream this time and didn't want to leave puddles everywhere). From the kitchen I went upstairs to the bathroom in order to take a nice warm bath.

**-0-**

When I woke up on Friday, I came to the horrible conclusion that I had caught a cold. Nobody likes shopping from a bakery whose bakers are sick, so that is reason enough to make me be subjected to being quarantined in my room. Add on top of that the fact that Mouse's parents died after getting sick and that makes for a jumpy and concerned Mouse.

You know how most people have that one completely unreasonable fear that they know they probably won't ever have to face in their lifetime but are afraid of it anyway? For example, I actually know a girl who is terrified of the living dead. She knows that corpses will not suddenly come alive and eat her, but she is _terrified_ of those living corpses anyway. Other people may fear that the world will come to a sudden, violent end if they do not do their little ritual or whatever. Mouse's fear was that everyone around her, especially those close to her, would get sick and die.

Mouse was a special kind of person. Even though she had that terrible fear, she didn't cut herself off from the world. She was still the fun-loving person I had known ever since we were tiny little things. Yeah, she was always careful to make sure that we did not get sick, but it was better than nothing.

I have always been a very healthy person. I can only remember a handful of times when I had been sick, and that is a good thing considering Mouse's fear. However, the few times I had gotten sick, it was treated as a serious situation even though I would usually get better the very next day. Mouse would basically force me to stay in our room all day to sleep or read. The only time that she would allow anyone to go in the rom would be to give me food or water or whatever else she considered necessary for a sick person to have. She would typically get a pillow and a few blankets from Gwen and sleep that night somewhere else in the house and then when she found me fully recovered the next day she'd clean the room and then go to sleep there that night.

Okay, enough about what happened before I got sick this time. That's all I've been trying to get to, really. I'm sure you are dying to know what happens when we have to make deliveries on rainy days or what one of Mouses's fears is, but it all leads up to one point: I got sick and was forced to basically spend all my time sleeping while Mouse and Gwen took care of the bakery.

And of course, is your haven't guessed by now, Wiltera visited me in my dreams.

**-0-**

It doesn't really matter what my regular dream was about. Or at least, I hope it doesn't matter because I can't remember what my regular dream was about before Wiltera came. The first thing I know is that I was laying in my bed while Wiltera sat in a chair pulled up right next to my bed.

"Feeling a bit under the weather, Catharine?" Wiltera said.

I didn't answer immediately and instead observed her as she stared at me. She looked the same as always, sure. Same pale skin, black hair, and dark eyes. She was wearing a black dress and her black rose necklace. Something about the situation made it feel like she was visiting me at my funeral. It was disturbing. Yet there she was, her mouth twisted up into a smile while her eyes betrayed no real emotion.

There was something terribly wrong.

"Cat got your tongue?" Wiltera asked. "It is much easier holding a conversation with someone who will actually talk than with a silent person."

"I'm sick outside of Dreamland, here," I finally responded with a slight shrug, trying not to show how I was really feeling.

"I know," Wiltera said. "Now get up. I have to show you where you are going to spend the rest of your money. The last item you must buy is a mask."

Pushing the covers off of me, I slowly turned and got out of bed. "Why am I going this again?"

Wiltera rolled her eyes. "You want to see your mother. She is going to be at the ball and the only way to catch her attention is to dress extravagantly. You cannot do that if you are splitting your budget with another girl."

"But she is my friend," I said, standing up so I was eye-to-eye with Wiltera.

My dream visitor looked exasperated. "We have gone over this already! _I_ am your _only_ real friend. That girl, Ratana, the one you have been calling your best friend, is not your friend. She is going to end up stabbing you in the back. Ratana will betray you. Trust me.

"Now hurry up! I wish to show you where you must go before you wake up!" Wiltera grabbed my wrist and started to pull me away, towards the door of my room. In a flash we were suddenly standing outside the bakery door, with Wiltera pulling me down the empty street.

It didn't take too long before I was standing in front of a small shop owned by a painter. This painter apparently enjoyed painting on pretty much everything, from small statues, to canvases, to masks.

"You are going to buy your mask here. How about you look for something that will tie the gold and green together?" Wiltera said, just looking through the shop window.

I didn't respond. Instead, I woke up.

**-0-**

I was feeling just as bad as I did when I went to sleep. Mouse had apparently came in to the room while I slept in order to drop off a bowl of soup. It was still warm, so I guessed that it hadn't been there very long. I took it off the side table and brought it closer to me. I took a spoonful of it and then closed me eyes, savoring the taste. Then I got another spoonful. And then another, until the bowl was empty and my stomach warm with soup.

I placed the empty bowl where I had found it. That soup had been dinner, and full, I went back to sleep.

**-0-**

Wiltera was there again as I laid in my bed. Again she took me to the shop where I was supposed to get the mask. I came a bit more willingly, not really wishing to be pulled again. This time, Wiltera also changed the subject in front of the shop away from what I should buy.

"If anyone tries to stop you from all this, you have to get rid of them," she simply said. "You must get rid of them."

That statement confused me. "What do you mean? How would I 'get rid of them'?"

It seemed like her eyes saw straight into my soul when she turned to look right at me. "If anyone tries to stop you from getting your ball supplies or asks too many questions, get rid of them. If and when the time comes, you will know how. You must eliminate all threats."

I didn't like the sound of that.

**-0-**

I found myself back in bed. Judging from the light coming in the room through the window, it appeared to be Saturday morning.

Mouse, with her perfect timing, walked into the room as I started to get up and out of bed. "Now wait just one second!" she said, moving to my side, pushing me back down onto the be as soon as she set my breakfast. "You're looking much better, but I want you to stay in here today. Just in case you get sick again."

I nodded. Of course she'd say something like that. With that, Mouse left the room, leaving me to my own devices. I didn't feel sleepy or hungry, but I ate my breakfast anyway. Once I finished it, I grabbed a book from nearby and flipped through. It didn't hold my attention for very long, so I slipped out of bed for a moment to grab a few things to draw. I'm not much of an artist at all, in my own opinion, but doodling was something for me to do in my state of boredom.

It felt like only a short time passed before Mouse was bringing in my lunch. I still didn't feel hungry, but ate at least some of it. Then I went back to drawing. But it happened again, what seemed like just a little bit later. Mouse came in with something for me to eat for dinner.

"Is this a joke, Mouse? There's no way it should be dinner time yet," I said.

"Maybe you aren't getting better," Mouse said. "Look out the window."

I did just that, and surely enough it was late in the day. The sun doesn't lie, so I shook my head, wondering how time could have gone by so quickly. Mouse set my dinner down and asked if there was anything I needed. When I responded that I was fine, Mouse smiled and left me alone in the room again.

I ate only a little bit of my dinner and put away all of my drawing supplies. Gwen came into the room a bit later to check up on me, but didn't stay for long. She suggested that I go to sleep early. I decided to follow her advice and tried to get some shut eye. I closed my eyes and when they opened again it was early in the morning.

"_Go buy your mask_," I hear Wiltera say in the back of my mind. "_Do not just sit around. Go_!"

I leaped out of bed and changed into a dress I was fine being seen wearing out in public. Once I was all done with that, I went downstairs as quietly as I was able to. I reached into the money jar in the kitchen, pulling out as much of the remaining money as I could.

"Just get this over with," I told myself as I left the bakery, trying to remember how Wiltera got me to the shop where I was supposed to buy my mask.

I thought I had taken a wrong turn, but I ended up by the shop in the end anyway. That's good, right?

The shop was open, so I pushed open the door to be greeted by the owner of the shop, a middle-aged man. He asked me what I was looking for and he showed me to where he kept most of his masks.

"_Green and gold_," I remembered Wiltera say, so I mainly started looking at masks with those colors. One in particular caught my eye. It was one of those masks that would cover my entire face, but I didn't mind that. Painted onto the mask was a bird similar to a peacock without its tail fanned out, only it was just green and gold. The green head and neck of the bird started on one side of the forehead, going down that side of the mask between the edge and where the hole for the eye was. The body and wings of the bird were also green and were mostly situated right where the cheek of the mask was and then the tail of the bird was golden and went all the way from the end of the body of the bird to the chin of the mask. The rest of the mask was painted in lighter shades of green and gold.

"How much is it?" I asked the owner, who told me. I pulled out my coins and saw that I'd have just enough for the pretty mask. I counted out the money as the man carefully grabbed the mask from the wall. Then I handed him the money and he gave me the mask.

I left the shop wondering what I would do with the mask when I got back to the bakery. The walk back was shorter than the walk to the shop, but I stood outside the door, contemplating on what I should do.

"_Go in,_" Wiltera whispered.

I rubbed my head. Hearing Wiltera's voice all the time was never in the plan, but it was best that I did what the voice said anyway in this situation.

There was no one in the shop portion of the bakery, so I walked over to the desk and opened one of the unused drawers to put my mask in it, where hopefully no one would look before I could move the mask to a better place.

I left the shop to go onto the kitchen, where I found Mouse. (She always seems to be in the kitchen!) She turned and saw me as I walked in.

"Feeling better?" she said.

"Yep. I'm feeling just fine," I replied. In all actuality, I didn't feel any different. I never felt good or bad.

"So where'd you go?" Mouse asked, watching me as I moved closer to the money jar.

I dropped some of the leftover money in the jar. "Well," I said, "I visited a girl named Angel Maskel for a little while."

"You were sick just a little while ago, but suddenly you are visiting little girls?" she said. I didn't respond. Mouse didn't do anything for a moment, but then walked over to the money jar. "How much money do we have?" she suddenly asked. "When you dropped in those coins, it didn't sound like there was quite as much in there as I thought there was."

I was too slow to stop what happened next. Mouse reached for the money jar and looked inside it. Her jaw dropped. "There's almost nothing in here!" she exclaimed, her wide eyes rapidly switching from looking at me to the inside of the jar. "You! You did this, didn't you?" Tears were starting to stream down her face.

"Mouse, I – " I started to say, but she cut me off.

"Don't 'Mouse' me! Only my friends have the right to call me that. Apparently you aren't my friend anymore." She was yelling at me now.

I tried again to speak. "But Mouse – "

"How could I have been so _stupid_?" she was now saying. "Karina _Dress_la? Eunice _Slippa_? And now, Angel _Mask_el? You've bought your entire outfit for the ball already! Using all of _our_ money! Just … Go away! Get out of here! I never want to see you again, Cat – Catharine."

I didn't move away, even as Mouse turned her back to me. This was my worst nightmare. I had been stupid to have ever trusted Wiltera over my best friend in the entire world. And look what had happened: my best friend was sobbing because of me. Everything was my fault, and if I could suddenly re-do everything regarding the darn ball, I would. Forget my mother, she left! Mouse had always been here for me. _Always!_

"_The people you trust most in the world always stab you in the back in the end_," I heard the disembodied voice of Wiltera say.

"Shut up!" I yelled. Mouse flinched at my outburst from where she was crying, but didn't turn around to look at me.

"_It happened to me and it would have happened to you. Now you are the one standing on top_," the voice continued. "_Finish her off. Get rid of her. She is the only one standing in your way._"

"No!" I said, trying to turn away to run out of the kitchen. I attempted to run away, wanting to go faster and faster, but I was going slower and slower.

That is the exact moment when I felt something. It was as if all the blood was being taken out of my body and being replaced with needles and sharp snowflakes. I was freezing and everything hurt. Then something horrifying happened: my body moved against my will. If felt like needles were stabbing me everywhere, but my body turned around and marched towards the kitchen counter. Wrapping my fingers around a knife, my legs and feet were moving me closer to where Mouse was slouched on the ground, sobbing. My arm lifted into the air as if I was going to do the unthinkable to my friend.

No! No! No! I absolutely did not want to stab my best friend. No! I tried everything to stop my arm from moving, but the more I struggled the more everything hurt.

"_You will do this or much worse will happen,_" Wiltera's voice commanded.

"How could things get any worse than this?" I whispered, still straining to control my body. I cried. I fell for the lies. All of them. And now … I fought my body over hurting my best friend.

"_Easily_," the voice responded. "_Your worst nightmare will get worse_."

My hand with the knife came down. I lost the fight with my body.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to **__Daliah Valley, Pokemonchen (x2),__** _**HauntedApple, LeyahRayne, **_**_Ilikemutemath, _**and_ Brimo_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	23. 3-23 Waking Up

_**Part 3: Smell the Roses**_

_**Chapter 23: Waking Up**_

_The Seventeenth of August_

_Griffs - ?_

_Eaglle - ?_

_Hawkks - ?_

_Dukks - ?_

_Sparrs - ?_

_Total byrds: ?_

**-0-**

My eyes flew open and I gripped the sheets of the bed tightly as I felt a pain not dissimilar to needles and snowflakes with razor sharp and freezing edges running through the veins in my body. I bit down on my bottom lip while the cold pain slightly started to fade away. I let out a ragged breath I hadn't realized I was holding as the warmth returned to my body.

As soon as the old and pain had faded away, I loosened my tight grip on the bedsheets and slowly pushed myself up into a sitting position. Though my movements were slow, the thoughts in my mind were moving faster than lightning cutting a jagged path through a stormy night sky. I had been dreaming. Mouse was alive and well. Wiltera was not my friend. I had made a huge mistake – no, _several_ huge mistakes. I had to fix those mistakes. Quickly.

It occurred to me as I stumbled out of bed that I was still sick. It was a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, but annoying all the same. I was too determined at the moment to let that slow me down. Well, after I sneezed a couple times in a row, that is.

As I fumbled around trying to find something suitable to wear, I couldn't help but try to organize my thoughts. I pulled on a blue dress and started to think about my best friend. It was too early in the day for her to be awake yet, and she wasn't in the room so I assumed she was sleeping elsewhere. That was good, I suppose, because it would take her a bit longer to notice that I was gone. I hoped that she wouldn't close the shop and try to find me while I was out.

I was tying my hair up with a hair ribbon as I poked my head out into the hallway. The coast was clear and I quickly walked out of my room and down the stairs into the kitchen. I walked straight over to the money jar, but just stood there for a second, staring at it. I had no idea what I was going to say to Mouse if and when I got the money back. I knew that not telling her anything would slowly eat away at my soul and probably ruin our friendship, but would there be any hope of saving our friendship if I _did_ tell her? I hoped and prayed there was as I finally grabbed the jar and walked out of the kitchen into the shop room.

I was about to push open the door and exit the bakery when I turned around and walked over to the desk in the room. I set the jar down and opened the drawer where I could remember hiding a mask. I knew the mask had only been a part of my dream, but I suppose I was just seeking confirmation that I wasn't mixing up dream and reality even more.

There was no mask. I would have smiled, but there was too much else going on in my mind for me to actually be happy. Instead, I closed the drawer and grabbed the jar again, not stopping as I walked out the door.

I wasn't thinking about my destination as I quickly treaded down the familiar streets. A fair amount of people were already up and roaming around or setting up small stands between the shops. No one paid much attention to a random girl just passing by, not stopping to even glance at the shiny red apples as her stomach growled quite loudly.

It startled me a bit when I saw a young woman who looked a bit like Wiltera as I walked through the streets, but it only took a second glance to realize that she was not Wiltera. Then again, what did I really know about Wiltera? After all those dreams, I thought I knew who she was, at the very least a good friend. Look how wrong I had been. I suspected that the younger version of Wiltera from my dream was just an illusion, like everything else, but the older version was probably closer to the real Wiltera. Why would she go to such lengths to putting up such a huge illusion for so long, anyway? What was her goal in all of this? Honestly, I had no idea.

I kept walking onward, shifting the jar in my arms so that I could hold it ever closer as I approached my first destination: a shoe shop. It wasn't just any shoe shop, though. No, it was the very one Wiltera had shown me the way to and had me buy shoes from.

The shop was just opening, so I pushed open the door and walked inside. A short, stout man was sitting in the corner of the room, flipping through the pages of a book with one hand while scratching the top of his bald head with the other. He hadn't noticed my entrance into the shop, but I sneezed then, making him jump a little from his chair out of surprise.

"Why hello there! How can I help you?" the man said, standing up and walking over to me.

"I placed an order for shoes here recently," I said. "I ordered the gold slippers."

The man nodded and retrieved the book he had been just looking at and flipped through it until he found what he needed. "Oh, yes, Catharine Derose, gold slippers. Um, I'm sorry but your order isn't ready yet," he said nervously, and quickly continued "I just got another order for a dozen pairs of ballet slippers for a dozen dancers and they need them soon and since you said there was no rush I've been working on the other order first if that's okay with you I mean I could start working on yours right now and be done with them soon if you'd like me to do that would you like that it won't be too much of a problem so what do you say?" He said all of that last bit in one breath.

I shook my head and replied, "Actually, I was hoping to cancel my order for the slippers and get a refund."

The bald man just stood there, blinking and looking slightly dazed. He looked like he was going to question me one why I wanted to cancel my order and such, but I sneezed again and he wisely decided to skip over the interrogation. "Er, wait here," he said, leaving me as he walked into one of the back rooms where materials and tools for making shoes were kept as well as the money the man had with him.

A moment later, he came back with a pouch with coins. I held out my hand to take my money, but he hesitated for a second. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to change your order instead? I could get set to work immediately on something that is a bit different from what you originally–"

"No, thank you," I interrupted. The man sighed and handed me the coins. I opened the pouch and tried to count the byrds to make sure that I got all, or at least most, of my money back. Satisfied, I dumped all the coins into the money jar I was still holding and started to back away towards the door.

"Thank you for your … interest. Have a nice day and come back soon."

I gave a small smile and then walked out of the shop, making my way towards the dress shop. As I walked (and occasionally sneezed or coughed), I hoped that getting the money back would be as easy as it had been in the shoe shop.

I arrived at the dress shop surprisingly quick and walked on inside. There was one other customer in the shop looking at the assorted hair ribbons displayed a basket, but I paid him no attention as I went over to the woman who was running the shop that moment.

"Excuse me, but I ordered a dress earlier this month and I was wondering if I could cancel my order," I said.

The woman twirled a bit of her dark blonde hair around a finger as she looked over at me as if I was the least significant thing in the universe. "Name?" she simply asked. Even though she only said one word, I could tell that she definitely had an accent.

"Derose. Catharine Derose."

"Stay here." The tall woman walked off, so I just stared down at the jar in my hands while I waited a bit. I could hear the woman yelling for someone else to deal with me and then I heard at least one person yell back. It took a minute, but another woman with dark hair eventually came back with a small book in her hand.

"Hello, Miss Derose, how can I help you?" I explained that I at that moment I no longer wanted to buy a dress and wanted my money back. The woman nodded her head. "You're in luck, young lady. We had a troop of a dozen dancers come through here recently needing new dresses urgently and haven't had time to get started on your dress. I believe I can give you most of your money back."

I let out a sigh of relief and waited for the money to be brought back to me. It seemed like everything was going to turn out okay. I'd get the money back and I'd figure out exactly what to tell Mouse and we'd continue to save up for the ball.

"It's our policy here that we keep ten percent of the money even if there is a cancellation," the dark-haired woman said as she handed me the rest of the money. "Sorry about that, sweetie. We have to make a living somehow, after all."

I dumped the money into the jar and thanked the woman as the blonde came back into the room grumbling. I decided it would be unwise of me to linger around the shop and moved to push open the door. However, the other customer had other ideas and grabbed my shoulder lightly. I jumped, surprised at the contact and whirled around to face the man.

"Rose!" the man said, looking down at me in wonder.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Pokemonchen**_, __**Daliah Valley**, ___**HauntedApple, **_**_Ilikemutemath, _**and _Brimo _for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	24. 3-24 Feeling Sick Again

_**Part 3: Smell the Roses**_

_**Chapter 24: Feeling Sick Again**_

_The Seventeenth of August_

_Griffs - 1_

_Eaglle - 6_

_Hawkks - 10_

_Dukks - 22_

_Sparrs - 31_

_Total byrds: 741_

**-0-**

"Bird?" I responded, meeting his surprised green gaze with my brown one. I hadn't recognized him earlier because he had his back turned to me. It suddenly hit me how long it had been since I had last seen him or read one of his letters.

"Hey! I haven't heard from you in awhile," Bird said. "How have you been?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but I felt a familiar tingle in my nose so I lifted my arm just in time to sneeze into the crook of my arm. How embarrassing it would have been if I had sneezed on him! "I've been busy," I finally respond.

Bird's eyes narrow as he took a good look at me. The hand that had previously been on my shoulder was moved so he could feel my forehead. "You're burning up!" he exclaimed. "You shouldn't be out and about right now. Let me walk you back to the bakery."

I only nodded as we headed out of the store together. Neither of us spoke at first as we walked through the streets os Spelika. I'm sure he was wondering what possessed me to go out to a dress shop even though I was sick. I was staring down at my feet (just so I wouldn't stare at him), thinking about what Wiltera had said about Bird in my dream. _"The crown prince," _I distinctively remembered Wiltera saying._ "He told his parents about you, and they have told him to marry a foreign princess or noble's daughter. They want him to forget about you."_

It didn't seem like he was trying very hard to forget me that second. I would have just walked out of the dress shop if _he_ hadn't approached _me, _and now he was even walking me home. I wondered if I had foolishly believed another one of Wiltera's lies.

The streets were a bit more crowded than they had been when I first woke up. Because Bird was so recognizable, we decided to detour around the more crowded streets at the expense of a slightly longer walk back.

"I suppose you've been too busy recently to go to the maze, haven't you?" Bird asked me out of nowhere. "I checked a few days ago to see if you had gotten my letter, but the bottle hadn't moved since I put it there."

"Yes, sorry about that," I simply said. When Bird didn't say anything, I continued, "You could have stopped by the bakery."

I glanced up at Bird. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I wanted to, but I figured that there was a reason why you hadn't replied yet." There was another pause between us. "Okay, truth is, I haven't been able to stop thinking of you, and I was worried that I had frightened you off or something."

I laughed. If Wiltera hadn't scared me off then there would have been no way he could have frightened me away. Why had I ever believed Wiltera? How could I have been so stupid?

A handful of different emotions flashed across his face. Worry. Anger. Confusion.

"Never," I managed to say as my laughter turned to giggles. Bird eased up and smiled with me for a moment before I stopped giggling to cough.

"There there," Bird said comfortingly, rubbing my back. "Better settle down now. We're almost there."

I muttered my thanks as we turned onto the street I lived on. Bird's hand dropped away from my back when we finally reached the bakery. He held the door open for me and I walked inside. I glanced around and saw a few early bird regulars in the bakery, trying to pick out the best loaves of bread from a fresh batch. Gwen was busy with these customers and didn't notice as two more people entered.

I didn't want to linger around, so with Bird right behind me, I made my way into the kitchen, where Mouse was chucking carrots at no one in particular. I had to remember sometime to hide all carrots from Mouse.

Setting the money jar on the counter, I almost opted to clear my throat in order to get Mouse's attention, but then decided that with Bird right there beside me it wouldn't be a good idea to cough again. Instead, I unexpectedly sneezed into the crook of my arm.

Mouse quickly turned around to face me, chucking a carrot at me before she even realized who I was. The carrot flew right above my head, narrowly missing me. Mouse gasped. "I am so sorry!"

"Where do you get all those carrots?" I grumbled.

"Doesn't matter! Where were you?" she asked (quite loudly, too). "Oh, hello there, Stephan. Nice to see you again!"

"Out and about," I replied to Mouse as Bird said, "Hello! Nice to see you as well."

Mouse smiled at Bird and they quickly launched into a conversation about how everyone was doing. Mouse shot me a mean look as if to say "you-go-upstairs-right-now-missy-or-else," but I ignored it and listened to what they were saying. Apparently, Arvin and Amity had gone on a rather spontaneous trip to their cousins' place recently and had just gotten back a couple days ago.

"I originally came here to make sure that Sicky gets to bed and sleeps off that fever, but I might as well grab a pie while I'm here," Bird was saying. "Arvin hasn't stopped talking about how much he was craving one of your pies since he got home. Apparently my cousins' pies aren't good."

"That's very nice of you, Stephan. Now, Cat, why aren't you going to bed right now?"

"Oh, fine!" I grabbed a random loaf of bread (I was starving!) and then pouted as I trudged up the stairs. I could hear Bird call out to me that he'd visit again soon when I was feeling better. That made me brighten up a little.

It occurred to me as I sat down in my bed that going to sleep may mean facing Wiltera. If there was one person I could have lived without seeing again, it would have been her. I didn't want to go to sleep. I ate the bread I grabbed earlier and tried to resist my drooping eyelids. I would not go to sleep. Absolutely not … Even if everyone was telling me sleep was the best thing for my sick self. Nope. Not going to sleep. Not until I solved the mystery that was Wiltera.

I twiddled my thumbs for a bit and then got up out of bed to grab a book. I was reading it when Mouse walked into the room. "What are you doing awake still?"

I didn't look up from my book as I said, "Just because I should be sleeping doesn't mean I will."

My friend sighed. "Why did go out anyway? You are _sick_."

"I was feeling better this morning." I shrugged. I knew she cared a lot, but what was I supposed to tell her? "_Oh, I was getting money back after I acted stupidly and nearly spent it all behind your back_"? As if.

Mouse held out a cup of water to me and just stood there, watching as I gulped it down. She took the empty cup from me and asked if there was anything I needed.

A few minutes later, Mouse was walking back into the room, carrying the money jar. "You promise to try to get some sleep after you count the money?"

I nodded and took the jar from my friend. She walked out of the room complaining under her breath about how crazy I was.

I got right to work separating the coins into piles based on their value. I noted that we only had one griff this time around, but quite a few more eaglles. But what was most surprising to me was that we had _gained_ quite a few byrds since I had last counted them. According to the little record keeping book I had, we only had 657 byrds on the third of August. We had gained nearly one hundred byrds since then!

I recorded the amount of byrds we had in the little record book and then dumped all the coins back into the jar.

This was the point where I should have tried to go back to sleep. I promised Mouse, after all. Yet I was still afraid of Wiltera. My tired body didn't get the message, though. I struggled, but eventually drifted asleep.

**-0-**

I dreamt of a man. He looked down at me, his deep brown eyes filled with unfathomable sadness. His hair was red, as was his beard. A woman was crying onto his shoulder, her chocolate brown hair unkept and tangled. A young boy of no more than five was being held by the man. He had brown hair and deep blue eyes. The boy appeared to be sad and confused as he looked at me. The image faded into darkness.

I dreamt of fire. Yellow and orange tongues of flame sprung up from the darkness and licked at the wooden walls. Smoke quickly filled the room. There was a quick flash of light and a loud boom followed nearly instantly. A sharp wail rang in my ears, but I was unable to move around to find the source of the noise as all faded into shadow once more.

I dreamt of a sparkling blue light bounced through the darkness in the distance. It faded away and then reappeared, with a pink ball of light appearing next to it. They, too, faded away and returned with a green orb next to them. The balls of light seemed to dance around each other, fading into the darkness to reappear with another one of a different color each time. Eventually, there was one blue, one pink, one green, one white, one purple, one orange, and one yellow ball in the dance. It was magical to watch. The twinkling lights were like little stars, slowly moving closer to me.

It took a long time to notice, but eventually the lights came close enough for me to realize they weren't just balls of light, they were fairies. The lights I was seeing were bright auras flaring up around their bodies. The fairies clapped out a beat as they danced gleefully, the lights going out for one clap and reappearing for the next.

Fairies are just as big as you or me and have enormous butterfly wings of every shape, color, and pattern. Their hair is typically golden or silver, but it is not uncommon for them to change their hair color to any in the spectrum to suit their fancy. They are beautiful—males and females alike—and know it, choosing to wear exquisite, flowing clothes and pretty jewelry that make them appear both more natural and otherworldly.

The fairies began to clap faster and faster to different beats, making them light up at different times in a beautiful display of magical power. Then they all reappeared, formed a circle and clapped once more, making all the lights go out at once. All that remained in the darkness of the fairies were giggles, slowly becoming softer and softer until there was no sound left at all.

I dreamt of ebony nothingness and woke up feeling refreshed.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Pokemonchen**_, _**HauntedApple, **_and_** Ilikemutemath **_and for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	25. 3-25 Forgiveness and Other Things

_**Part 3: Smell the Roses**_

_**Chapter 25: Forgiveness and Other Things**_

_The Fifteenth of September_

_Griffs – 1_

_Eaglle – 7_

_Hawkks – 15_

_Dukks – 31_

_Sparrs – 54_

_Total byrds: 909_

**-0-**

I woke up the next day with not even a trace of the fever, which was good. Mouse forced me to stay locked up in our room for an extra day after my fever broke just to make sure that it wouldn't come back while I worked in the bakery. I could just imagine how well it would go off with the customers if I suddenly got sick while helping them pick out the best loaf or bread or whatnot. But since I was declared perfectly healthy, I had been allowed to resume working in the bakery. A few of the regular customers commented on how they missed seeing me while I was sick once I got back and said that they were glad I was feeling better. That was nice of them.

Whenever I wasn't busy at the shop, I was always thinking of one of four things. The first of which was Wiltera. It terrified me that she could pop up at any second, in my dreams or the waking world. I acted skittish all the time thanks to my new fear of her. Thankfully, she hadn't reappeared anywhere yet. Her threat would pop into my mind a few times a day. "_You will do this or much worse will happen._" I hadn't stabbed Mouse and I never was going to, but nothing worse had happened besides me getting a little sick. If only I knew what to expect what would happen. Way to be vague, Wiltera.

I often thought of my new strange dreams, too. Not necessarily every night, but frequently I'd dream of either the sad family, fire, or fairies. I didn't always have all three dreams in the same night, but either way they were always the same. I'd wake up remembering pretty much every detail, but couldn't make heads or tails of what they were supposed to mean, if anything at all. Don't reoccurring dreams usually mean something kind of important?

The royal family was the next thing I often thought about. It was on my first day working after getting sick when Amity and Arvin walked into the shop, huge grins plastered on their faces and a few small gifts in their hands. A round of group hugs and jokes went around before the Fallance twins gave us a jar of some spice, a few pretty flowers (which Arvin gave to Mouse, ooh la la), a new book (Amity's gift to me), and a shiny, uncirculated eaglle coin. At first Mouse and I complained that we couldn't just accept the gifts, but they kept insisting that we simply had to accept them to make up for how long they had been gone. (I don't know about you, but time had flied by and it hadn't occurred to me until just then how long it had really been since I had last seen the twins.) Plus, Amity pointed out that a Spelikan holiday, Gift Day, was coming up soon so they were giving us our presents early.

As we tired to continue running the bakery, plenty of jokes and new stories were told. The visit was all too short, though, and eventually the twins had to leave for the day with a promise to come again soon (which they kept. Once every three or four days at least one of the twins would stop by to say hello and buy a pastry or two.)

The fourth thing I often thought about was confessing to Mouse about my mess-up. Every day for a week after I was feeling better I would wake up planning on telling my friend everything. However, I kept putting off the confession because Mouse seemed way too happy one day or the twins would visit the next. Regardless, I knew I had to tell the truth. Hiding the truth was like sitting back and letting a wound fester.

I cracked on the twenty-fifth of August. While Mouse and I were getting ready in the morning, I turned to her and "Mouse, can we talk?" to which she replied, "Of course."

"I made a huge mistake," I quickly blurted out, knowing that once I started talking this time I wasn't going to shut up until I had said everything on my mind. "At least, I very nearly made a huge mistake. Just hear me out on this … I nearly bought a dress and slippers for the ball. I took the money from the jar and placed the orders and everything. Oh! I'm such a horrible friend! I cancelled the orders and got the money back, but I feel terrible for even thinking about spending even a single sparr from our money jar without telling you. I'm sorry."

Mouse sat down on her bed, looking down at her feet or looking across the room at the wall. She looked everywhere but right at me. I swear I could see a single tear go down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away. "You said you got the money back, right? You didn't actually buy anything, correct?"

"I got all the money back … Well, most of it anyway. The dress shop kept some of the money because of … reasons. I'm so sorry, Mouse. I never meant to hurt you or make you cry. I'm so very sorry. Is it possible that you could forgive me one day?"

Mouse looked up at me. "Cry? Oh, no, I had something in my eye." She stood up and gave me a giant hug, which I definitely wasn't expecting. It took me a moment before I reacted and hugged her back awkwardly.

"Of course I'll forgive you. No harm no foul, right?" Mouse gave me a small smile, but her eyes betrayed that she really was surprised and hurt that I went behind her back like that. Then she sternly said, "Just never. Ever. _Ever_. Do. That. Again. You hear me, Cat? I trust you with my life, so don't go stabbing me in the back."

I nodded wildly, happy that Mouse wasn't going to kick me out of the shop or something completely ridiculous like that. I was on the road to forgiveness.

**-0-**

Time went by fairly quickly after that, with no sign of Wiltera and plenty of reoccurring dreams. I very nearly never wanted to go to sleep again. But one night, as I was dreaming of the fairies for what felt like the hundredth time, I noticed that there was one fairy hanging behind who was dancing separately to the others. I hadn't noticed her was because not once did she light up like the others. The only reason I noticed her was because for a split second she wandered to close to one of the other dancing fairies. There was something off about the fairy who didn't glow, though. She seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it because her long blonde hair was always covering her face from my view. How she could dance and see in the dark while her hair was covering her eyes, I had absolutely no idea.

When I dreamt of her again, I made another discovery. The fairy had no wings. Did that mean that the fairy wasn't actually a fairy? She was dressed and moved around like once, that was for sure. Overall, it was confusing.

**-0-**

"I distinctively remember that Arvin was the one who tripped and spilled the juice all over himself while I made it out without a drop on myself."

"Stop changing the story, Amity. We all know that _you_ were the one who tripped and spilled _milk_ all over yourself. I made it out completely dry!"

On the fifteenth of September, I went on a picnic with only a few of my friends in the gardens, just like old times. Arvin and Amity were bickering over the details of some story they were telling, while Mouse and I laughed. Bird took it upon himself to sort out the false facts from the true ones in the stories, causing even more laughs.

Okay, so it was't just us. There were a few guards a short distance away because I suppose that the king and queen or someone way up there in the ranks in the castle wanted them to watch over the royals.

Bird slung an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to where he was sitting. "Actually, they are both lying," he whispered into my ear. "Arvin tripped first and spilled milk all over Amity, and then Amity tripped over Arvin and spilled her juice all over him." I chuckled at the thought.

A cold gust of wind blew through, with a few brown leaves being carried around by the wind. I shivered and leaned into Bird's side, trying to steal his body warmth. My actions didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the group, though.

"Hey! Split it up, lovebirds!" Arvin said as Amity cooed, "Aren't they so cute?" I blushed and Bird only pulled me closer.

"You know, Cat, Stephan doesn't ever shut up about how amazing you are," Arvin said with a mischievous wink at us.

"And you better not say anything else or I will find something to throw at you," Bird challenged his brother. When Arvin responded with something along the lines of "as if," Bird actually leaned over and grabbed a carrot which I hadn't even realized we had and tossed it right at his brother (why was it everyone threw carrots?), who couldn't dodge fast enough and got hit on his stomach. Laughter and chaos followed, causing me to dash away for cover to the closest place I could find: the maze. That had me thinking that while I was in the maze, I might as well go to my usual spot.

I could hear my friends shouting as they ran around for cover. It seemed that they also thought the maze was a wonderful hiding spot because soon enough I could hear people yelling from very close by. At one point, I was absolutely sure that if I could have looked over the wall I would have seen Arvin trying to figure out why he had run into the same dead end (again).

A part of me knew that Bird was going in the same direction as I was. Since I had a head start, I beat him to our tree. As I stood in the shade, I reached over and grabbed a small bottle. A few pretty hair ribbons were tied around it, but only one small piece of paper was tucked inside. It wasn't dated so I had no idea how long it had been there, waiting for me to read it.

**-0-**

_My dearest Rose,_

_My parents just asked me if I had met a girl I like yet, and I told them I had. They were very excited at first, throwing out the names of random noble girls who were around the castle at the time. I told them that they would probably never guess who the girl was, seeing as how that girl is you. Yes, you read that correctly, Rose. __You__ are the girl who is always on my mind. You are amazing. Just the thought of you makes me smile. That sounds very cheesy; I will stop that now._

_I cannot say my parents took the news very well at first. "A commoner?" they asked, to which I said, "She may not have the wealth of a noble but she has a heart of gold and a beautiful face to match her beautiful personality." That caught their interest. They had me tell them everything I know about you, and I am very happy to say that they seem to like you. I am sure that if you could meet them they would fall in love with you._

_Anyway, just thinking of you._

_- Bird_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**HauntedApple, Pokemonchen, **_**_Ilikemutemath, LeyahRayne, kerensparkle,_ **and _Brimo_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	26. 3-26 Dress Shopping

_**Part 3: Smell the Roses**_

_**Chapter 26: Dress Shopping**_

_The Twenty-fourth of November_

_Griffs – 1_

_Eaglle – 8_

_Hawkks – 21_

_Dukks – 49_

_Sparrs – 91_

_Total byrds: 1,146_

**-0-**

It was only a little while ago that I lived in fear of a woman named Wiltera who mysteriously disappeared after I brushed off her threat. Before then, I put my friendship with my best friend to the test and passed. Before then I had been falling in love with a guy I met through letters left in a maze and making new friends with people like the royal family. It seemed like a long time ago, but there had once been a time where I was just a fairly normal girl working with her best friend in a bakery. I remember moving in with my best friend and her family. I remember living with my mother.

There were some days where I was overly nostalgic and missed the days of the past like you wouldn't believe. On those days I would have given anything to be living with my mother again, or maybe even those days when Mouse's parents were still around.

It just so happened to be that it wasn't anywhere close to one of those days. It was early on a Sunday morning when Mouse and I decided that it was about time for us count the money we had saved up and get our outfits for the ball. I knew that I had been keeping a fairly accurate count of the byrds we had so far, but Mouse still had no idea how many byrds we had and counting them again was a way of double-checking my count.

Mouse and I had nearly finished counting when the door to the bakery flew open and Amity Fallance walked in, causing Mouse to jump. "Hello, gals! What are you up to on this fine morning?" Amity asked.

"Oh, you made me lose my place!" Mouse complained. She was the one organizing the sparrs into piles of tens, so her job was a little bit more difficult than mine, which was going through everything else.

"Oops, sorry," our friend said slightly sheepishly. She was quiet for a moment but then bust out, "Are you going shopping? I'm assuming that's why you are counting your money now. Am I right?"

"Maybe," I responded. "Give us two minutes, Amity. Just two more minutes and then we'll be finished."

And so we sat in silence for exactly two minutes as Mouse and I finished counting the number of byrds we collected in our money jar.

"Ninety-one," Mouse finally said, looking proud of herself.

"Okay, so that means we have one thousand …." I trailed off as I tried to figure out the exact number. "One thousand one hundred and forty-six byrds!"

Amity's jaw dropped a little. "You figured that out in your head?" I quietly nodded. "That's impressive. Now time to spend it!"

Mouse shook her head and smiled as she swept all our byrds into the jar again. "I don't see why not," she said. "Is that okay wit you, Cat?" Of course I agreed to go shopping,

**-0-**

You'd think it would be very different shopping with a princess, but it wasn't. I figured I knew as much as she did about the fabrics and patterns because of my mother's job as a dressmaker. Amity might have beat me in knowing the latest fashions, though. I hadn't been keeping up with them as much as I should have. The biggest difference between a normal shopping experience and this one was that Amity was not as concerned with keeping within a certain budget as Mouse and I were.

"I've gotten a few dresses from here before," Amity said as we walked into a dress shop, taking a good look around. It wasn't the same one I had gone to before due to Wiltera. There was a fairly large selection of sample dresses in the shop along one wall, with some rolls of fabric along another.

A woman who I guessed probably owned the shop walked over to us. She was tall and thin with a head of black hair she kept up in a tight bun. "Good morning, Princess Amity. How can I help you today?"

"Oh, I don't need anything this time, Merriam. I am here for my two friends, Ratana and Catharine." Amity motioned towards us as she said our names.

"It would be an honor to make dresses for friends of the princess," the woman, Merriam, said. "Do you have any idea what you are looking for, today?'

"Ball gowns for the Sash Festival," I said, taking a small step forward.

Merriam looked excited as I said that, clapping her hands out of joy. I honestly couldn't tell if she did that for show or if she was genuinely excited. Either way, she said, "Lovely. Do you ladies know what theme you are going for?"

"Theme?" Mouse replied, her head tilted ever so slightly to the side.

"You haven't started thinking of a theme?" Amity asked. "Oh my, that simply will not do. I mean, you don't really _have_ to have a theme, but since it is a masquerade ball and all, it looks really nice to have a single look you're going for. Think of it like a costume party! What do you want to go as?"

Neither Mouse nor I had any idea what we wanted to go as. Don't get me wrong, the outfit Wiltera nearly had me wear was at the front of my mind, but I hope you understand why I would say that I would rather cut off my hand before wearing that specific outfit.

Amity reacted first. You would have thought that she was the one trying to sell us dresses and not Merriam. "Okay, okay. Let's have you two try on some of the sample gowns and then see if we get any ideas from there." She grabbed our wrists and pulled us towards the dresses.

Merriam saw this and moved over to us and the dresses. "For you, ma'am," she said to me, "I'd recommend find a dress that is a cool color – blue, green, maybe even a purple." She turned to Mouse and said, "You would look lovely in a blue dress; it would bring out your beautiful blue eyes, I think."

As Merriam spoke, Amity went through the dresses. She pulled out two simple blue gowns of completely different styles. "Here, try these on."

Merriam led us over to where we could try on the dresses and walked away, allowing us to change in peace. She said that if we needed her, then all we had to do was call for her. Amity, however, remained there with us, chattering away as we changed.

"I would tell you what Stephan is going to wear, Cat, so you could wear something to go with his outfit, but I don't know," I could hear Amity saying. "I _do_ know that you need to meet my parents! I mean, you're seeing my brother! Oh my goodness, what if you two actually got married one day? You could really be my sister! Mouse, if you can look past his goofy behavior, you could marry Arvin. You could _both_ be my sisters!" Amity gave a small squeal of delight, finally giving Mouse a chance to say something.

"And who would you marry, Amity? Jonathan?" she joked.

You could practically _hear_ Amity blush. I loved every second of that. It was quite amusing.

"Eh, moving on now," Amity said. "Are you finished dressing? I want to see!"

I stepped out from behind a curtain as Mouse stepped out from hers. Neither of the dresses fit us very well, but if we liked the dresses we could always get them altered.

"So, what do you think? Getting any ideas for an overall theme?" Amity asked us.

I turned around in a circle. I wasn't crazy about the dress I was wearing, and judging by the way Mouse was looking at hers, she felt the same way.

"Not this one," I said, shaking my head. "Do you think I could try on a green dress?"

"I have an idea for my theme!" Mouse suddenly said, a large smile breaking out on her face. "Do you think they could make a blue dress but have a sheer, silvery fabric as the top layer?"

Amity and I looked at each other. I nodded so Amity said, "Yes, I suppose they could. What are you thinking of doing for your theme?"

Mouse winked mischievously and said, "That's for me to know and for you to find out! I think I know exactly what I want now, so excuse me while I change out of this dress."

That's all it took for Mouse to figure out what she wanted to wear. It took me quite a few other tries, but that only excited Amity. I was her life-size dress-up doll, I started to realize.

Amity continued to talk with Mouse as I kept trying on more and more dresses. "The royal family from the Arode Kingdom is coming for the festival, Mouse. I knew their son was going to come this year, but the king and queen are coming as well. Isn't that interesting?"

"Don't they have a daughter?" Mouse asked.

"So you've heard the stories. Well, from what I know, they did have a daughter, but before she was even a year old she went missing. No one outside of the royal family knows for sure what happened to her, but most people say she died. Isn't that sad?"

"Yeah, that is sad … Hey, do you know if it is true that they have fairies in their court?"

Amity laughed at that. "Apparently, one of their closes advisors is a woman who is half-fairy. Her mother was a full-blooded fairy, but her father was just as human as you or me."

"I thought that fairies and humans never had children together."

"Apparently, they can, but the half-fairy of Arode is the first in many, many years because fairies don't normally enjoy being around humans. They are too different from us in many ways."

"I see … Hey, Cat, are you okay in there? Have you found a dress yet?"

"I'm fine. Not yet," I replied to Mouse. I kept trying on more dresses. I continuously racked my brain for what I'd like to wear, but it wasn't until I was trying on what felt like the hundredth dress that Amity looked at me and said, "I like that color on you, but that dress would definitely need a pretty necklace to go with it. I can't remember the last time I saw you with a necklace. Do you even own jewelry?"

And that, my friends, was when I thought of my theme. I'd wear a green dress with gold detailing and my mask would have a rose painted onto it. For a necklace I'd wear my gemstone-rose necklace. The gold detailing on my dress would look nice with my necklace's gold chain, but maybe I was also thinking gold in order to contrast with Mouse's silver.

"Thank you, Amity! I know what I want!" I changed back into the dress I had worn into the shop and the three of us walked out of the changing area to find Merriam.

Our measurements were taken first and only after that was done did we describe to Merriam, who was writing detailed notes, what we wanted. Mouse described how she wanted the blue and silver fabrics to look, but really threw us for a loop when she asked for blue flames to be embroidered along the bottom of the dress and near the end of the sleeves. "I'll be fire for the ball," she told us.

I described my dress next. It wasn't anything like the dress I had ordered back when Wiltera visited me in my dreams except that it was green, albeit a different shade.

"I don't get it, what look are you going for?" Mouse asked me.

"I'm going to be a rose." They looked confused still. "You'll see."

We paid for our dresses with money from our money jar and walked out of the shop successful.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to **_Rosaline Redd_**, **_Ilikemutemath_**, _**kerensparkle**, **Pokemonchen**_, and **_LeyahRayne_** for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	27. 3-27 A Masked Past

_**Part 3: Smell the Roses**_

_**Chapter 27: A Masked Past**_

_The First of December_

_To Do List:_

_1. Pick up slippers_

_2. Buy masks_

_3. Make cookies (meaning make Mouse bake cookies)_

**-0-**

"Here, let me hold that," I said, grabbing the shoe box from my friend. We decided to spend our second free Sunday in a row shopping. Last week we had ordered our dresses and shoes, so this time we decided to pick up our shoes and look at masks. Mouse's shoes were a pretty blue while mine were red.

"Red?" Mouse had asked me at the shoe shop last week. "Why red? Your dress is green!"

"I like how you think, Cat!" Amity jumped in before I had a chance to reply to my friend.

I chuckled softly at the recent memory. I normally never wore red due to how it usually looks with my red hair – which it so say they did not go together at all – but I decided that red shoes would be okay. It would look good with the red sash, I hoped.

At least is only took us a week to get the shoes.

"Let's go in this one!" Mouse said, holding the door to the shop open for me. I gave her my thanks and walked in with Mouse right behind me. We stood there in the entrance for a minute, looking around the shop.

Two of the walls of the shop were completely covered in masks of every shape, size, and color. You could hardly see the wall behind the masks because there were so many. And, my reader, you should be aware of just how beautiful those masks were. Whoever made the masks put time and love into every single one of them with skilled hands.

And the other walls of the shop has pretty paintings hanging and shelves where some painted statues were displayed. They were all interesting, but the masks demanded your attention first and foremost.

We slowly wandered closer to the masks, taking the time to look at each and every one. No two were the same. We were so absorbed into looking at the masks that we didn't notice a man walking behind us.

"I see you like my masks," we heard a man say, startling us. We quickly turned around to take a good look at him. He looked like the kind of man who could be your grandfather. He was old and bald, but his current smile and wrinkles showed that he smiled and laughed often.

"They are beautiful," I told the man.

"Thank you, dearie. Is there anything in particular I can help you look for?"

Mouse replied, "We are just looking for masks to go with the dresses we ordered."

The man nodded, understanding that we were more likely than not going to the Sash Festival masquerade ball. "You've come to the right place! Now tell me what your dresses look like and I'll point you in the right direction!" We told him all about our dresses, leaving out that we'd wear our red sashes with them. The man stood still for a moment with his hand on his chin in a thoughtful pose. And then out of nowhere he burst out, "Ah ha! I have exactly what you need!"

The old man moved a ladder from the corner of the room and used it to reach one of the masks that was higher up. He climbed back down the ladder and set the mask down on a table so he could move the ladder over to the side. When he climbed up the ladder once more, he pulled down a mask that would have been just out of his reach if he hadn't used the ladder. The little old man grabbed the mask he had just set down and walked back over to us. He placed the masks in our hands. My first impression: they were perfect.

My mask was the size where it would cover everything from my forehead to the tip of my nose, but leave my lips and lower jaw uncovered. I glanced over at Mouse's mask and saw it was in the same style. The masks would have to be tied with ribbons if we planned to wear them, and while there were no ribbons on them yet, there was a place to tie them on.

Oh, I suppose you want me to stop blabbering about that and tell you what was painted onto the masks. Both were mostly white, but on mine there was a beautifully painted rose. The flower portion was in the top left of the mask, with a long green stem going down the left edge of the mask, curving upwards a little on the bottom of the mask before ending. There was a small but pretty detailed leaf right above the left eyebrow (as there were thin eyebrows painted on, as well).

Mouse's mask had blue flames trailing from the upper right side of the mask to the bottom right cheek. They were white along the edge of the mask but darkened to a deep blue at the tops of the flames. The blue edges of the flame were made more prominent and beautiful from silver outlining the flames. It was oddly perfect.

"You just randomly paint blue flames on to masks?" my friend asked.

"I'll paint anything that comes to me in a dream. I have masks with fire all the colors of the rainbow. See?" he said, pointing up to where he had pulled Mouse's mask from the wall.

Mouse and I were so happy with our masks that we decided to buy them before even looking at any other shop. The man apologized for not having ribbons to put on the masks, but told us where we could get them and how to properly fasten them to the mask.

Waving goodbye to the friendly shop owner, we walked out of the shop victoriously and headed towards home, making a quick stop to buy blue ribbons for Mouse's mask and golden ones for mine.

I walked into the bakery, placing both shoe boxes and my mask down on a counter. Mouse set her mask down next to mine.

"I'm craving some cookies now, how about you?" I asked Mouse. She smiled.

**-0-**

It only took another week before we picked up our dresses. I was surprised that it had taken forever for the shops I had gone to earlier to even start making one dress while it took this shop only two weeks to finish two dresses. That was pretty good, if you ask me.

My dress was green and gold, just as I had ordered. The skirt was neat, with three visible layers. The top layer was green (of course) and was cut in a way so that it kind of looked like the pointed ends of leaves. There was a bit of the golden layer showing underneath in the same pointed cut and the bottom layer that made up the rest of the skirt was green.

The blue fire on Mouse's dress turned out perfect. It looked just like the flames on her mask.

We were going to look fabulous to the ball.

Amity came over to the bakery later and begged us to let her see our outfits. Mouse and I declined that offer, telling her that she would see us on the night of the ball. She complained at first, mentioning how there would be so many people there, but I politely reminded her that only a few people there would be wearing red sashes.

"Oh! I know what Stephan is going to wear! He's going to be–" Amity started.

"No!" I interrupted. "Don't tell me. I want it to be a surprise."

Amity shrugged. "If you insist."

There was just two days left until the ball. I was working in the bakery (with shop duty, of course) and had the responsibility of telling everybody that during the Sash Festival the bakery would only be open for a few hours in the morning. We wanted to make sure that people could still get their bread from us, but we wanted to partake in the festivities too.

One of our regular customers, Old Sue, was about to leave the shop when someone held the door open for her. The old woman nodded to show her gratitude and walked out.

Into the bakery walked someone I was not expecting. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, trying to make sure that I hadn't fallen asleep or was imagining things. She was still there, walking up to me.

"Are you really here?" I asked, backing away slightly.

"I am really here, Catharine," she replied. "I was gone for so long, but I am back now."

"Mother?" I whispered, still not believing my eyes. She hadn't changed even a little bit. Same blonde hair, same blue eyes, same fairy-like features, same everything. How was that possible? Surely _something_ would be different.

"When did you start calling me that? You used to call me Mommy or Mom … You don't trust me," she mused, a hurt look in her eyes. "I'm sorry I left. I had to go."

"How do I know that you are my mother and not Wiltera in some disguise?" I said.

"Wiltera found you?" She sounded worried. "Oh no. Is everything okay? Everyone is alright? This isn't good. I need to come with me. Go get Orrick or Annette to run the shop while you are gone, okay?"

"Mouse's parents are dead. The flu killed them. I can't go." I shook my head as I said that.

My mother looked saddened by the fact that her old friends had passed away. She reached into a bag she had on her shoulder and pulled out a book of fairy tales. "Do you remember this one? You wrote your name on the first page – look. See? You need to trust me, my little princess, my rose."

We stared into each other's eyes and I knew right then that she was telling the truth. My mother was back! I rushed forward to give her a large hug. "Mom!"

I heard the curtain between the shop and kitchen rustle and I turned a bit to see Mouse looking at us. "You're back."

"Ratana!" my mother said. "Thank you for taking care of Catharine in my absence. Is it okay if I take her away to catch up for a little bit?"

Ratana slowly nodded. She was as shocked as I had been moments earlier.

Mother pulled on my arm a little, motioning for me to follow her out of the shop. We walked in silence together until we reached a little inn. She brought me to a room where I guessed she was staying. We sat of the edge of the bed.

"How do I begin?" I could hear her softly ask herself.

"Why did you leave?" I asked, trying to get her started.

She shook her head. "No, this goes back much further. Hmm. How do I put this? My little rose, you were born Catharine Orrose."

"Orrose? But that is the name of–"

"I know, the royal family of Arode. Please don't interrupt or I might not be able to finish. This is difficult to tell you." I nodded and she continued. "You are the missing princess, my dear. I might have raised you like my daughter, like my very own, but you are not of my blood."

The first tear slipped down my mother's – no, this _woman_'s cheek. "I am a trusted friend of the royal family, so when your life was in danger, they trusted me to take you away until the threat was gone. Unfortunately, the threat was a person and she eluded capture for much longer than expected. I had to keep you here, until one day when I had to go back and leave you here for a bit longer.

"The person they were trying to capture back home was Wiltera. Long ago, she was a friend of mine and of the royal family. But she grew up and left us one day to live in a small village outside of the capital city. We didn't hear for her for years. Then one day the king and queen were told that she had committed a crime and had to be arrested. We were upset about this, but sent some soldiers to bring her back to the castle anyway.

"We didn't know she had just given birth to a baby girl. The soldiers had found her outside of her house and ignored her pleas to go back to her house to get her baby. I think they thought that the father could take care of the baby, but he wasn't around. She tried to use magic to fight back, but they stopped her.

"She was brought to the castle and found innocent of the accused crimes. We had just released her when a messenger came from her village saying her house had caught on fire and burned down before anyone could rescue her baby girl."

I gasped. Maybe that was what my dream about fire had meant!

"Wiltera blamed us for taking her away. She called us backstabbers and vowed to get revenge by killing the newly born princess, which is to say you. She escaped before we could catch her again, so it was decided that I would take you far away.

"You said that you've seen her. No matter what age she appears to you as or what she says, you must not trust her. Understand?" I nodded. "I know that all of this is a lot to take in, but remember that you are still the same person on the inside. Cat is still Cat. You aren't my daughter by blood, but I still consider you my daughter. I love you."

She wrapped her arms around me in a hug. Slowly, I lifted my arms and returned it. I hadn't realized that I was crying until I pulled away and found my cheeks were wet.

"Can I tell Mouse?" I managed to ask.

There was silence for a second before she said, "Yes. Tell those that are closest to you, like Mouse and Gwen, but do not let anyone else know. Make them promise to tell nobody this." She stood up, so I did too. "I must go now. Be careful, my little princess. I love you."

"I love you too."

I walked back to the bakery alone (although I was sure that she was keeping an eye on me) and told Mouse and Gwen and Peter everything that night. They almost fainted. Mouse thought it was cool that her best friend was a princess of sorts, but Gwen and Peter were confused on how to treat me. I told them that I hadn't changed, but it took them the next couple of days to get used to that.

I considered telling Amity, Arvin, and Stephan my new secret as well, but they didn't come see us before the festival.

The festival. With the new knowledge of my past, it was easy to forget about it. But every time I did remember it, I smiled. I was looking forward to having some fun.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Pokemonchen**_, _**HauntedApple,**_ **_Ilikemutemath, LeyahRayne, _**and**_ kerensparkle_** for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	28. 3-28 Purple and Blue

_**Part 3: Smell the Roses**_

_**Chapter 28: Purple and Blue**_

_The Twenty-Fifth of December_

**-0-**

The first thought on my mind when I woke up was that the Sash Festival had finally arrived. Well, actually, that would be a lie. My _first_ though was that it was freezing, but my _second_ thought was about the Sash Festival. Close enough, right?

As a little girl, I thought that the week of the Sash Festival was the best week of the entire year. Even as I grew older, I kept that belief. There was something there for everyone that made the week so enjoyable. Actors from all over put on shows, vendors opened up stalls in order to sell fresh holiday foods, and there were stands with games up everywhere. Well, depending on the day of the week it was, there was more of some things than others. I'll tell you more about that later.

I rolled out of bed, leaving the nice, warm blankets. If I had thought that it had been cold when I was still in bed, then it was absolutely below freezing out of bed. I shivered and pulled a blanket off my bed, wrapping it around myself.

I glanced over at my friend's bed and found it empty, strangely enough. I figured that she had probably gone into the kitchen to start making bread for the day. In case you don't remember, the bakery was going to be open in the morning for the convenience of our customers, but since it was a holiday, we planned to close the shop around noon so we could go out and have some fun along with everyone else.

As I changed out of my sleeping gown into my dress for the day – a simple light brown one that wouldn't be too warm to wear in the kitchen nor too light to wear outside – I looked out the window and saw that it was snowing. Snowing! It was no wonder why I was so cold! I shivered again, this time at the thought of being cold.

Dressed and pretty much ready to start a new day, I headed out of the room, but not without grabbing a purple hair ribbon along the way.

"Happy Purple Day!" Mouse exclaimed as I walked into the kitchen. She was wearing a dress similar to mine, except hers was a pale blue. Her hair was also tied up with a purple ribbon.

Perhaps I should explain the whole Purple Day thing now. Basically, each day of the festival was assigned a different color. The first day was dedicated to purple, the next to blue, then green, then yellow, then orange, followed by red, and finally all of the colors of the rainbow on the last day. Assuming that you can recall the Spelikan tale I told you about, "The Queen's Children," they you will also know that each of the six basic colors represents another section of people in Spelika.

Now where was I? Ah, yes. Along with the colors, each day (with an exception of the first) had a trait associated with it, and all of them had a traditional activity as well. Purple Day was the day of gathering together and traditionally there would be a feast at the end of the day. Fish and wine, the specialties of the coastal towns, were almost always served at the feasts. That's _if_ you could find fresh fish.

Okay. I think that's enough background information for right now. Back to the story.

"Happy Purple Day," I replied to my friend. "Is Gwen up yet?"

Mouse shook her head. "Nah, she is still sleeping. Lazy bum." We laughed. Gwen was anything but lazy.

"Hey! I heard that," we could hear a voice say from right behind us. Mouse and I turned to see Gwen coming down the stairs. Gwen smiled and said, "I can't believe the Sash Festival is already here. It feels like just yesterday that it just ended!"

Mouse groaned at her sister's comment. "Don't go saying things like that, Gwen! They make you seem so old."

That made Gwen raise an eyebrow at her little sister. "Well, that's it. Cat is now my favorite!" She turned to me. "So, _favorite_, what would you like for breakfast?"

It was just one of those days where we could – and did – joke about anything and everything.

**-0-**

We opened up the bakery not too much later. And it seemed like only a short amount of time had gone by before we were closing it up for the day.

Gwen walked over to where Mouse and I were standing to hand us our winter cloaks. "You two go out and have some fun," she told us. "I'm going to wait for Peter to finish up before I go out. Stay warm, you hear? I don't want you coming back sick. Oh, and be back in time for dinner. I'm planning an absolute feast!"

"Yes, Mom," Mouse said sarcastically while pulling on her cloak. As soon as she had, she was pulling me out the door and into the freezing cold. It wasn't currently snowing, but there was still plenty of snow on the ground. It. Was. Freezing!

Mouse and I just chatted as we walked through the town. This may seem slightly strange to you, but there were no decorations up yet. Sure, there were stalls with vendors selling stuff for the festival, but everything looked pretty much the same as it did every other day. That was actually a good thing, believe it or not. Decorations would go up later.

"Would you two pretty ladies like to buy your sashes?" one random vendor called out to us. "You need the green ones, am I right?" Mouse and I laughed but kept walking past. Every other year we wore our green sashes, but not this year!

It was starting to snow lightly by the time Mouse and I reached our first destination: the open-air food market. Seeing as how the first night of the sash festival was centered around a nice family dinner, it was logical to think that the market would be full of people. We went over to the fish first, where there was a large crowd of people gathered. We wiggled our way up to the front and looked at the selection.

"I hate shopping for fish," Mouse said. "I mean, look at their eyes! Yuck!"

"Hey, just be thankful that it's cold out. They don't smell nearly as bad now as they would in the summer!"

"Like that matters, my nose is frozen anyway! Ugh. I'm pretty sure that Gwen bought the fish already, anyway," Mouse finally said, turning away.

"Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" I asked, following my friend as we walked out of the crowd.

Mouse told to to stop complaining, to which I responded that she was one to talk. She stuck out her tongue and then pulled me towards where she wanted to go next, which turned out to be the public gardens.

"Why did you want to come here? The flowers are dead and no one is here!" I said, turning my back on Mouse so I could look around. It was strange seeing the place so empty.

"Because it makes it easier to do this!" Mouse replied. I turned around so see what she was talking about and got hit with a snowball. Wait … She actually managed to throw something and hit me! I couldn't let her get away with that! So of course I crouched down and tossed a poorly made snowball at her.

We were in the middle of a full-blown snowball fight. A few young boys walked into the gardens (By the way, can you even call a garden a garden in the winter when everything is dead?) a bit later and joined in on the fight. When that happened, Mouse and I called a truce on the battle going on between us so we could team up on the four others.

We took shelter behind a couple of trees in order to make a few new snowballs. I had just scooped up a handful of snow when I noticed there was something else in my hand as well. I brushed off the snow and saw that there was a folded up piece of paper! And completely dry too, as if it hadn't even been in the snow at all.

As Mouse was still making a few snowballs, every once in awhile popping out from behind her tree to toss one in the boys' direction, I unfolded the piece of paper and quickly read the few words written in it.

**-0-**

_If an eye for an eye_

_Leaves everybody blind,_

_I'll kiss my sight goodbye._

_- W. Vinal_

**-0-**

W. Vinal? Goosebumps rose all over my body, and not from the cold. After all this time, Wiltera Vinal was back. And this time, nothing was going to stop her on her rampage for revenge.

"Hey! I don't see you making any snowballs, Cat!" Mouse suddenly said, momentarily distracting me from the paper. "I think it'll take only a few more hits before someone gives up."

I shoved the paper into the pocket of my cloak, not caring if it got all crinkled up, and got focused on the snowball fight again.

We lost in the end. Not that it mattered, because Mouse and I just found it so hilarious how these four little boys had their little chests puffed out and were so proud of themselves. One of them told us how we put up a really good fight, and another quickly added, "For a couple of girls." Boys will boys, I suppose.

The two of us went back home to the bakery, stopping to buy some hot chocolate along the way. (No Sash Festival experience is complete without getting hot chocolate at some point.) Gwen had us sit in the kitchen and dry up a bit before recruiting us to help her start making dinner. Peter was there, joking up a storm as he expertly prepared the fish. Nobody even cared that most of the jokes weren't funny. All that mattered was that we were together.

The food that night was delicious.

**-0-**

The next day started out pretty much the exact same way the previous day did. I woke up freezing, remembered that it was the Sash Festival, got dressed, and tied my hair up with a ribbon (Can you guess what color? That's right! Blue!).

What was different was that Mouse was still asleep. Being the wonderfully incredible friend I am, I poked her arm. When she didn't even move a little, I stated to softly say, "Oh Moooousssse. Wakey-wakey." No response. I shifted closer and then yelled, "Happy Blue Day, Mouse!"

"Ack! What's going on?" Mouse popped right up. I grinned at her, and she glared back. "I'm so getting you back for that one."

I stuck out my tongue and rushed downstairs. It was hard enough to believe I was seventeen sometimes, judging by the way I was acting, let alone a princess!

My happy mood was killed while I was eating breakfast. That's when I remembered Wiltera's letter … Poem … Thing. I got my cloak and dug through the pockets, but I couldn't find the original poem. Instead, I found a new piece of paper, folded up neatly. I placed it on the table and stared at it. I didn't want to know how it had gotten in my pocket and I certainly didn't want to read it.

Mouse made my choice for me by coming downstairs. I slipped the note into my pocket without reading it. As much as I disliked pockets, I had to admit that they had their uses.

"Okay, let's get this done with and then we can go celebrate the day of bravery," Mouse said, tying on an apron and starting up the oven.

By "the day of bravery," Mouse was talking about Blue Day, the second day of the Sash Festival. A long time ago, people would use face-paint to draw scary monsters on their faces and watch actors put on plays about some hero being brave and yada-yada-yada. The tradition had changed a bit, with people getting whatever they wanted painted on their faces. The plays had changed from always being about some long story about hero being brave to one short tragedy in the morning and a comedy in the afternoon. Since Mouse and I were working in the bakery during the morning, we were going to miss the tragedy. I didn't have too much of a problem with that, considering I wasn't overly fond of tragedies. Happy endings are much better; wouldn't you agree?

Anyway, Peter came down a bit after Mouse did, grabbing some bread for breakfast before heading out for a few hours of work. It took a bit longer for Gwen to come down, but as soon as she did the bakery was open for the day. I was stuck with kitchen duty, while Gwen manned the shop. Lucky Gwen.

At least working in the kitchen made the day pass by quickly. It was time to close up the bakery shop in no time. Actually, we might have kept on working a bit longer if it hadn't been for Peter coming home a bit earlier than expected.

"What are you two still doing in here?" he asked us. "Go out and have some fun! I'll clean up in here."

Mouse tried to keep the kitchen tidy while she was using it, so it wasn't like we were leaving a bug mess. Still, we thanked Peter and grabbed our cloaks and a bit of money.

There wasn't a cloud anywhere in sight, leaving a perfectly blue sky as far as the eye could see. It had warmed up a little bit from the day before, but there was still more than plenty of snow on the ground. Overall, it was a pretty nice day.

Our first stop was to a face-painter. The artist was a short woman with two long, dark braids going down her back. She smiled kindly and told us to sit down in some chairs she had set out and asked us what we wanted painted. I had no idea what I wanted, so I just let Mouse decide for me. The cheeky little bugger wouldn't even tell me what she was having painted on my face, though. She whispered it in the lady's ear. I was slightly regretting giving Mouse the choice after remembering how I woke her up that morning.

Mouse had her face painted first. I watched as the artist quickly but expertly painted purple and blue swirls around my friend's eyes, like she was some kind of pixie with a mask made of magic. It was very pretty, actually. It made me kind of eager to find out what Mouse had chosen for me.

I closed my eyes and let the artist complete her job quickly. As soon as she was done, I opened my eyes and was handed a mirror. I gasped. Mouse chose to get even with me after all! Not only was my face painted like a clown's, I had a huge frown!

"Don't you like it, Cat?" Mouse asked while trying to avoid giggling. "Come on now, turn that frown upside down!" She laughed at her own joke. I rolled my eyes and paid the artist.

The two of us left there to go to a large area in town where we knew one group of actors would be. Our timing was perfect. We were there early enough so there was still enough room for us to get up fairly close to the make-shift stage, but not too early that we would be waiting forever for the play to start. The area was completely filled by the time the first player walked out and said his first line. I instantly recognized the play, seeing as how it was one of my favorites.

Basically, it was about a prince and princess from neighboring kingdoms. The two always argued, but one day when they were fighting a spell was placed upon them by a young wizard with little control over his powers. The spell made it so they would always blurt out the truth (especially the embarrassing facts) and the only way to break the spell was to drink a potion made from the fruit a rare, magical plant. To top it all off, they had to pick the fruit from the plant themselves, so they couldn't send servants to do it for them. While they go on their rather short adventure, the two find themselves falling in love as they overcome several challenges together. In the end, they get the fruit and potion, break the spell, and live happily ever after together. That sounds cute, right?

The performers did a wonderful job of bringing the play to life. Everyone in the audience left with a smile on their face. It was almost easy to forget that I looked like a sad clown. Almost, but not quite enough.

After the play, Moue and I went back home for dinner. Gwen and Peter got a kick out of the way my face was painted, but understood why I was the first one to go take a bath that night.

I was just about to go to sleep when I recalled the new piece of paper I had found in my pocket that morning. I went and got it. As soon as I read it, I ripped it in half and threw it away.

**-0-**

_I want them to feel pain,_

_To look down at their hands_

_And see the red bloodstain._

_- W. Vinal_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Daliah Valley**, **Pokemonchen**, __**HauntedApple, **_**_Ilikemutemath, kerensparkle, _**and_ Brimo_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	29. 3-29 Green and Yellow

_**Part 3: Smell the Roses**_

_**Chapter 29: Green and Yellow**_

_The Twenty-seventh of December_

**-0-**

I stoop on the tips of my toes in order to get the end of a long green ribbon to hang from a high shelf in the bakery. There were no people in the room with me for the second, so I decided to take advantage of that fact and started hanging up the decorations, and by decorations I mainly mean really long ribbons and such.

Green Day of the Sash Festival had finally arrived. Since I lived in the "green zone" (within the huge inner gates of the city), it was expected that I go full-out for Green Day. I was wearing my favorite green dress and had my hair tied up with a green hair ribbon, and Mouse was wearing roughly the same thing.

Because so many people who lived in the green zone were affiliated with the arts and trade, Green Day was affiliated with being artistic. That's why decorations were put up starting on Green Day.

Anyway, I finally got the ribbon to hang the way I wanted it to as a customer walked into the bakery. I helped her pick out the best loaf of bread and then was right there when she wanted to pay.

It was a fairly easy morning, a slow but steady stream of people coming in. I suppose that most families were more concerned with decorating their homes than about buying bread and pastries. I sure didn't blame them for that. I remember back when my mother … Er … Feya used to close the dress shop completely so we could decorate like crazy. I missed that, but it wasn't the best time to be dwelling on the past. I had decorations to put up!

Decorate a little, help a customer, decorate a little more, help yet another customer, and so on and so on. That's pretty much just how my morning went.

The bakery was absolutely covered everywhere in ribbons of ever color (but mostly green) by the time Mouse walked out from the kitchen telling me that we might as well close up the shop. We cleaned up the shop a bit, putting away some of the bread that hadn't been sold, and then told Gwen that we were leaving. She simply waved us farewell and told us to be back by dinner. She was considering inviting a few friends over to join us.

It was snowing again, which made all the colorful ribbons hanging everywhere stand out even more against the white. On the few years that it didn't snow, people would buy colorful chalks and draw pictures all over the ground. I always thought that it looked amazing when that happened, but it always made me feel a bit bad when I accidentally stepped on someone's chalk drawing. But since it was snowing, I wouldn't have to worry about that this time.

As we walked around, pointing out to each other things we thought were interesting. At one point I spotted someone placing a gorgeous original painting of what they imagined the beautiful Sash Queen looked like. In the picture, all six sashes were tied around her waist and there were six children around her. Mouse was impressed for a split second before she pointed out a snowman by the entrance the public gardens. Well, I suppose the snowman should have been called a snow-_woman_ because it was obviously supposed to be the Sash Queen again. There were sashes tied around the snow-woman and there was a simple crown made of ribbons woven together resting on top of its head.

We went closer to the snow-woman because it was interesting, but on the ground I found a slip of paper. I picked it up and quickly read it while Mouse was distracted by the snow sculpture's crown. It was another short poem, but this one was about fire burning down a house. The poem was signed with "W. Vinal."

I had ripped the slip of paper into a bunch of tiny pieces by the time Mouse turned back to me and suggested that we go find a place that sold warm drinks. That sounded lovely to me, so we we left the snow-woman in search of some warm beverages.

As we walked, I spotted a tree that had been absolutely covered in colorful ribbons. It was as if the tree had decided to grow ribbons instead of leaves there were so many. Except on the highest branch, which a man maybe a few years older than me was trying to fix. He was way up there in the branches and with just a few quick movements he tied a big red bow on the top. The guy looked down and frowned. Either he had realized just how high he was up or that he had no idea how he was getting down.

I hadn't realized that I stopped walking until I felt Mouse touch my arm and ask what I was looking at. I pointed up at the man, who was slowly descending the tree. Just one wrong step and he could have a horrible fall.

"I'm surprised some of those branches are supporting his weight," Mouse said, keeping her eyes firmly planted on the guy. He was almost all the way down the tree, but as soon as Mouse said those words, of course that was when a branch snapped and he took a short tumble down to the ground. He almost pulled off a decent landing, despite the fall, but he lost his balance and fell down onto his rear end. Mouse looked like she wasn't sure whether to gasp from shock or laugh.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to the guy as Mouse decided on laughing. I offered my hand to help him up, which he gladly took. When he was finally standing upright, I took a good look at him from up close. He had brown hair that was kept trimmed fairly short and his bright blue eyes sparkled. His clothes were fairly nice, but they didn't look very warm.

"Thanks you," he said with a smile. (Was that an accent I heard?) He went over to behind the tree and picked up a thick coat. He brushed it off and put it on.

"Why were you climbing that tree?" I asked, glancing up at the ribbon he had tied at the top. I could hear Mouse walk up behind me.

He shrugged. "It has been a long while since I last climbed a tree and this one needed something at the top." (Definitely an accent.)

I nodded. The tree looked a bit more complete with his addition.

"Hey, you look familiar," Mouse said. "Do I know you?" Now that she had pointed it out, I noticed it too. There was just something about his face.

He shook his head. "I am not from around here; my family is visiting for the Sash Festival. Oh! I better go back now before they come searching for me. It was nice meeting you, ladies."

We waved goodbyes and watched him walk off. I couldn't place what was so familiar about him. It was going to bother me until I figured it out!

"I think he kind of looks like _you_, Cat," Mouse softly said. I turned to face her. "You have a similar nose and mouth. Distant cousin, maybe?"

"Maybe," I mumbled. Refusing to zone off thinking about it, I grabbed my friend's hand and pulled her through the rest of the town until we finally got our warm beverages. It sure did hit the spot and took my mind off the man in the tree.

The rest of that day was nice but went by in a flash. We walked the streets of Spelika and enjoyed all the colorful decorations before heading back home. Gwen had gone though with her plans to invite some friends, so that was nice.

But before I realized it, the sun had gone down and I was dead asleep, dreaming of sashes all the color of the rainbow.

**-0-**

There was one thing that hadn't gone out with all the decorations on Green Day, and that would be the candles. They were part of the traditions of Yellow Day, the Day of Diligence representing all the hardworking people in the castle. Sure, regular candles had been set out and used before then, but on Yellow Day everyone pulled out the special candles for the first time during the Sash Festival. Everyone would go outside at night and light them. Apparently, from up in the castle it would look like the stars had fallen down onto Earth and were sparking throughout the streets of the kingdom. Sometimes the kids would light those paper lanterns that would float away.

I could only imagine how beautiful it would be watching from the castle.

But all of happened after sunset, and we had half a day of work in the bakery still. I had shop duty again, thankfully. That meant that whenever I wasn't helping a customer (and there were a lot, surprisingly) I was pulling out colored candles to place around the shop. It was a good thing that we were not lighting them yet or my nose would be going crazy between the smell of fresh bread and the scents from the candles.

When it was time to close the bakery for the day and go out, Mouse and I decided to go out shopping separately for a little bit (meaning we would be buying everyone else gifts and didn't want them to shop with us and spoil the surprise). We would meet up at the bakery after a couple of hours, by then we will have hopefully finished shopping.

There were even more decorations out, I noticed as I was walking though the streets. A few people had taken it upon themselves to balance unlit candles in the branches of trees. I could only hope that they were not planning on lighting them and risk setting everything on fire. That would be quite bad, I think.

I'm not going to tell you what I bought everyone else, but I was heading back to the bakery after a successful shopping trip when I saw _her._ Wiltera was leaning up against a building, watching as I quickly walked by. I tried not to acknowledge her, or even look at her, but I found myself glancing up at her and catching her eyes. I shivered from the cold feeling that spread though me, going down to my soul.

She didn't say anything or approach me as I kept walking as far away as I could get. I could feel her gaze following me and I could practically feel her messing with her necklace, just like I played with mine. She wasn't young looking like she had been in my dreams. She was an older woman who inspired fear in me.

I nearly dropped everything the second I walked into the bakery. Thank goodness she hadn't followed me. I hadn't seen her at all the last ten minutes of my walk … But I knew better than to think that because I hadn't seen her didn't mean she couldn't see me. I just figured that for the moment Wiltera was out of sight and out of mind.

I didn't see her again that day.

Mouse came back after I did. She put away all her gifts and together we made a nice dinner for the entire family (Read: she made a nice dinner and I supervised). Gwen and Peter, who had gone out, were back just in time for dinner.

Night came quickly, so everyone in our house grabbed our favorite candles and stood outside. We waited out in the cold until we saw a few paper lanterns released into the sky from the castle. With that symbol, we lit our candles and watched a few more lanterns fly us be released into the air from all around.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw Mouse holding out a paper lantern to me. I smiled and gently took it. We counted to three and released them together. They gently floated up into the sky along with the other lanterns that had been released.

It really was a pretty sight, so we stayed outside and watched the sparkling candles and lanterns for a bit before Mouse started yawning. We placed our candles down on the ground where they would hopefully burn out or be blown out out by morning.

With one last glance in the direction of the castle (I wondered if Bird was enjoying his view of the lights), I went back inside for a long night of sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**HauntedApple, Pokemonchen, Brimo, _Daliah Valley, __LittleBarredOwl, ___****_Ilikemutemath,_ **and _stag of __light_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers._

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	30. 3-30 Orange and Red

_**Part 3: Smell the Roses**_

_**Chapter 30: Orange and Red**_

_The Twenty-ninth of December_

**-0-**

You've probably already noticed this, but I usually try not to sleep in if I can possible help it. Since I work in a bakery, that is probably a good thing considering everyone has to get up early to start making the bread. However, I had no problem sleeping in on Orange Day of the Sash Festival, this year at least. Everyone had stayed up late the previous night in order to watch the lights around the kingdom, so I doubted that most of the people in the kingdom would be up early. It was just an added bonus that this year Orange Day fell on a Sunday, our day off at the bakery.

When I finally woke up, the sunlight filtering through the windows was unbearably bright to my unadjusted eyes. I hid under the blankets for a moment before risking poking my head out again. It was still bright out, but I chose simply to let my eyes adjust to the light so I could get ready for the day.

Mouse was already awake and downstairs, so I changed into a comfortable dress and walked down the steps into the kitchen. Delicious smells were strong there, making my mouth water. Apparently, Mouse was cooking up some fresh pancakes while softly humming a holiday song to herself.

"Good morning, Mouse!" I said, causing her to twist around so she could see me. "Making pancakes again?"

"Hey now! It has been awhile since I last made pancakes! But if you don't want some then I guess I'll just have to eat them all by myself." Mouse winked, knowing very well that I wanted a few.

I shook my head in defeat and decided to get some clean plates and drinks while Mouse cooked. It only took a few seconds before we were both singing holiday songs. Gwen, who had been upstairs, came down, teasing us by saying that it sounded like two animals were dying very slow, painful deaths. Being the mature young ladies that we are, we stuck our tongues out at her. She laughed as she left us.

"So, when do you want to do the present exchange?" I asked Mouse between bites of pancake. Orange Day was represented by loyalty, so it was traditional to exchange presents with friends as a symbol of your loyal friendship to each other. (It can be noted that little kids did not swap presents with each other so much as they were simply given presents by their parents.)

"I'm pretty much ready to start whenever you are. I finished getting all my gifts yesterday."

Mouse must have seen something glint within my eyes, because she quickly finished off her last bite of pancake and rushed upstairs. I had a couple more bites left, so Mouse was slowly descending the steps by the time I set down my plate by the sink. Both Gwen and Peter had come down with Mouse into the kitchen as well. We all formed a circle around the kitchen table.

So let me explain what typically happens in the Hans house, because we did things strangely. No one in our family wrapped the presents, generally. I think that tradition started because Mouse's parents just didn't have the patience for any of it. However, to make things a tiny bit more interesting, we hid the presents around the house. We would each choose a room in the house (which was why we were all gathered in the kitchen, even though we usually chose the same rooms year after year) and everyone else would hide the presents for that person in that room. The presents only needed to have a tag or something saying who they were from and the hiding places couldn't be outrageous, but there were few other rules. If someone couldn't find one of their gifts, one of the others typically helped a little or the person who hid it would give a clue.

Anything else? I hope not ….

And so the room-choosing began. Mouse chose our room, Gwen picked her room, Peter wanted the little supplies room (why he liked that room, I have no clue), and I selected the study. After all that was sorted out, we went up to our rooms and grabbed our boxes filled with presents. We weren't allowed to be in our chosen room when others were hiding gifts, so we proceeded to hide the presents fairly quickly.

Once that was done, I went into the study and began my search. I immediately went to the desk and opened some drawers, but there was nothing unusual in the first couple drawers. The very last drawer, however, had a gift in the very back.

"Well that was easy," I softly mused to myself as I pulled out a feather pen and bottle of ink (which happened to be a lovely shade of indigo) tied together with a piece of string that had a little tag hanging off that read, "_To Cat, with love from Gwen_." I sat the gift down on top of the desk and continued my search.

It took a little while, but I eventually uncovered Peter's gift for me, which was a book I had talked about getting just a couple days ago at dinner. I had to give him props for the hiding place, though: on the bookshelf along with all the other books. The only reason I had noticed it was because it had a piece of paper sticking out of the book as if it was a bookmark, which served as a tag that said, "_I hope the book is good. – Peter._"

All that was left for me to find was Mouse's gift for me. It must have been small, because if it had been large I would have found it by then. I looked around the room for a spot I hadn't checked yet and double-checked a few others. I could cross off the chair as a hiding place, the desk, the curtains by the window, the bookshelf ….

Oh. I was being stupid. Standing on the very tips of my toes, I brushed my fingers across the top of our bookshelf and they bumped into something. I grabbed a book to use it to sweep the gift off the top of the bookshelf into my waiting hand, since I couldn't reach it well enough to pull it down. A bracelet fell into the palm of my hand. I took a good look at it and saw that it was a golden color, but probably not actually made from gold. It was a simple circle with a little red stone and two tiny green ones set into the bracelet in a way that reminded me of my necklace. I slipped it onto my wrist and marveled at how it fit perfectly. I fell in love with it instantly.

Grabbing my other presents, I walked out of the study and went downstairs to see if anyone else had found all their gifts. It turns our that while Peter had found his, but Mouse and Gwen were still searching. Taking advantage of my free time, I hugged Peter and thanked him for his gift, while he thanked me for the feathered hat.

Gwen had to search the largest room of the four we picked from, but she returned before Mouse. Thank-yous were exchanged once more, as we waited for the last member of our group to finish her search.

When she didn't come down after about ten minutes, we went upstairs to check in on her. We found her sitting cross-legged on the ground, a few tears running down her face as she held her clenched fists, which I assumed had one of her gifts in them, to her chest.

"Mouse!" Gwen recovered first and exclaimed, walking over to her little sister and resting a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder. "Is everything okay?"

Mouse nodded and showed us what she was holding onto so dearly. On a piece of nice blue string there were two silver rings hanging off of. I blinked. If I wasn't imagining things then those were–

"Our parent's wedding rings," Gwen said. "Look, I thought you would like to own them. Peter and I have our own rings and … I'm sorry for making you sad. We can go out right now and I'll buy you a new gift."

Mouse shook her head wildly. "No!" she finally said. "I mean, no thanks. I'm not sad; it just means a lot that you're giving their rings to me, Gwen. Thank you." Mouse stood up and gave her sister a hug that looked like it could fracture ribs. As soon as she let go, she tied the long string with the rings like a necklace. It was just the right length and the perfect colors to wear with her gown to the masquerade ball.

"Now that that's settled out, have you found everything else?" Peter asked, stepping fully into the room. Mouse responded that she had, thanking Peter for his gift before thanking me for the decorative hair comb I had given to her along with a book.

Once everyone had finished saying thanks, we wandered into the kitchen in order to play a few games before making lunch and wandering around town.

**-0-**

The rest of Orange Day was spent having plenty of fun. Neither Wiltera nor all my family confusion crossed my mind that day. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we all agreed that for Red Day we would have to go out again after closing the bakery.

Since you obviously don't know, Red Day is simply the day of love. It was traditional to make a promise with someone you loved or cared greatly about. The promises were similar to your New Year's resolution, except these were between friends and family members. Simple but sweet, if you ask me. After having a holiday that was celebrated with physical gifts, it was nice to focus on the deeper aspect of people's relationships on Orange Day. Am I making any sense?

So of course I woke up bright and early on Monday in order to get prepared for our half-day in the bakery. I had store duty, but I'd help out in the kitchen as much as possible until the store actually opened up. I was the first one up, but everyone else was awake soon after.

We opened up a bit early, to the delight of one of our customers who happened to be walking by. The rest of the day was pretty busy, especially considering it was a holiday, and time flew by. Before I knew it, it was past noon and time to close the shop while there were no customers. I had just flipped the sign on the window to show that we were closed when someone walked in.

"Sorry," I automatically said, "but we just closed. Oh, Jonathan! How are you doing?"

He chuckled and walked over to me. "Nice to see you again, Cat. I'm doing pretty fine. Long time no see." His brown hair was getting long enough so that he would probably want to cut it before it fell into his gray eyes like it used to when I first met him. That reminded me, I needed to get my hair cut.

"Yeah, really. Now come on into the kitchen and say hello to Mouse while I grab you something to snack on!" I said, pushing my large friend towards the kitchen.

I grabbed what remained of the gingerbread cake from the store and followed Jonathan into the kitchen, where he was quickly catching up with Mouse. We sat around the kitchen table while Jonathan at a slice of cake and told us about his life as a knight. He seemed to love what he did for a living, something you simply have to admire.

"So," Mouse said as Jonathan popped the last bite into his mouth, "what brings you here? Just want to catch up?"

"Well, that too, but I also was asked by a certain lover-boy to tell Cat to stop by the maze tree sometime today." Jonathan grinned at me cheekily, causing me to blush. He and Mouse laughed.

Mouse responded for me. "We're going on a picnic later, so she can go look then." Jonathan raised an eyebrow at that, but ended up grinning.

"Great! Well, it's been nice catching up with you two ladies," he said as he stood up. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you both tomorrow."

"See you later, Jonathan," I said as Mouse said roughly the same thing.

Once he was gone, Mouse turned to me and said, "Come on, let's pack our lunch and then I'll go up and ask Gwen and Peter if they are ready to go."

That's exactly what happened, and off we were to the public gardens all wrapped up in our winter cloaks and warm outfits. A little snow was falling from the sky, but nothing too ridiculous for a quick, warm meal outside.

We brushed the snow off some benches and pulled out our sandwiches, which had been warmed before we left. Mouse had been careful to wrap them up so they would still be warm once we arrived in the gardens. They were quickly devoured before they could cool.

You probably think we are crazy for picnicking on a cold winter day, but one of the things I loved about us was how random and crazy we could be. At least all of our food had been warm at some point. Maybe not by the time we ate it, but warm at some point nonetheless.

After we finished eating but before Peter could start a snowball fight, Mouse pulled me away from the group and told me that I should go find my tree and see what Stephan wanted.

I nodded. "You know, Mouse, you really are the best friend I could have asked for. I promise that next year they will be no secrets or surprises between us, unless I'm planning a surprise party or something."

Mouse gave me a soft smile and replied, "And I promise that I'll help you improve your cooking skills a bit more." I laughed and gave my friend a quick hug before dashing off into the maze.

I'm not sure if it was the cold or my excitement that caused me to reach the tree in record time. No one was there, so I knew that Bird had left a message in a bottle. It was pretty easy to find among all the white with the red ribbon hanging off it.

I popped the top off and read the note.

**-0-**

_Rose,_

_I hope that you have had a wonderful Sash Festival so far. I really am sorry that I have not been able to spend more time with you than I have. My promise to you is that I will make more time to see you, because you are amazing and I miss you whenever you are not around._

_I am looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at the ball. I am sure you will look gorgeous no matter what you wear._

_Missing you,_

_Bird_

_P.S. Amity said that you are invited to come to the castle to get ready for the ball with her if you would so desire. She will send someone (probably Jonathan) to the bakery in the morning to get your answer and show you into the castle if you end up wanting to come. I think she would really appreciate it._

**-0-**

There were some perks to being friends with royals. Wait … _I_ was a princess, too. I'd have to remember to tell Amity and the others about my recently discovered heritage. I wondered how they would respond to that surprise.

When I caught back up to Mouse, I found her on the losing side of a snowball fight. I put Bird's note away where it wouldn't get lost and then made and chucked a snowball at Peter. It missed and I proceeded to dodge the snowballs being thrown in my direction. The battle didn't last very long once I got back, so we began to head back home and warm up with some hot chocolate. As we slowly walked back, I told Mouse about Amity's offer. Mouse was over-excited; we decided that we would accept the offer.

"We will have to pull out our dresses, masks, shoes, sashes, jewelry, and everything else tonight!" Mouse exclaimed in the privacy of the bakery.

"Yes, and we will have to cover everything up so that no one can see what we are carrying and so water and snow and things will not dirty them," I pointed out.

"I can't wait for tomorrow," my friend said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Neither can I," I said. "Now why don't we go get some of our stuff gathered now? I'll grab a basket for our slippers, masks, and whatever else we want to put in it."

"Sound like a plan," my friend replied with a nod and then left.

I rummaged around for an unused basket large enough. As soon as I located the basket, I grabbed. "Tomorrow is going to be a day to remember," I said to no one as I went back upstairs to find Mouse.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Pokemonchan, LeyahRayne, Brimo,**_ and **_LittleBarredOwl_** for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	31. 3-31 Preparations

_**Part 3: Smell the Roses**_

_**Chapter 31: Preparations**_

_The Thirty-first of December_

**-0-**

I almost did not want to get out of bed. It was so warm under the blankets, and so freezing outside of them! In order to go back to sleep, I started to snuggle into my pillow when it suddenly hit me what the date was. I bolted straight up in my bed and was wide awake. There was no going back to sleep at that point because I was simply too excited to relax again. It was the last day of the year, Rainbow Day of the Sash Festival. The Day of Sashes. The day representing beauty, life, and togetherness. The day of the masquerade ball. The day that was supposed to be the best of my entire life.

Even though it was fairly early, I was feeling very well rested so I decided I might as well get up and out of bed. Mouse was still sleeping in her bed; I grabbed a hairbrush and left the room so as to not disturb her. We would be up late so there was no reason not to let her rest a little bit longer.

As I ran the brush through my waist-length auburn hair and walked down into the kitchen, I couldn't help but think of how I wanted to style my hair for the ball. I could leave it down or braid it or –

A knock on a door interrupted my thoughts. Who in the world would be visiting us this early in the morning? Oh.

I was thankful that I had grabbed one of the blankets from upstairs and was wearing it as a shawl as I walked over to the door and pulled it open to see Jonathan standing outside. "Er, good morning, Jonathan," I said. "I can't say I was expecting you to show up this early."

He gave a small grin and shrugged. "I told Amity that she's be lucky if anyone was even awake yet, but there is no stopping that girl when she is on a mission. I'm just assuming here that you aren't quite ready to go yet, are you? Is Mouse even awake?" He paused and I shook my head, so he continued, "Well, I guess I'll take a walk around the block and give you some time."

"Don't be so silly, Jonathan! It's freezing outside! Come in here and grab something to eat while I go upstairs and wake Mouse up." I grabbed his arm and pulled him inside before closing the door behind him.

"The women in my life are so demanding," he muttered under his breath just loud enough for me to hear him. With a wink, he brushed past me and went into the kitchen, picking up a gingerbread cookie on his way.

As Jonathan sat himself down on a chair in the kitchen, I walked upstairs to wake up Mouse. All it took was a tap on her nose to wake her up this time. My hands were freezing, so maybe that's part of the reason she woke up so easily. I quickly explained to her that Jonathan was downstairs and we had to get ready to go to the castle. With a quick grumble, Mouse pushed the blankets off her and began to rummage through her things to find a warm dress she could change into. I did the same, standing outside the door while she changed in case Jonathan came upstairs looking for us. She did it for me next, and I quickly donned a light blue dress. The two of us grabbed our baskets filled with the things we were planning on wearing to the ball and the dresses themselves carefully folded and covered up using some blankets.

Jonathan was munching on a stale piece of bread when we finally went downstairs. It sometimes felt like he ate more than Arvin did. It was a wonder that both Jonathan and Arvin still had great bodies. After greeting Jonathan, Mouse rushed back upstairs and woke up Gwen to tell her that we were leaving and then came back a few minutes later. Everyone put their coats back on and off we went!

It was freezing outside, but I have to say that it was a pretty nice walk we had. Snow was gently falling from the sky and smells coming from vendor's stalls. My stomach growled, shamefully reminding me that I had left without grabbing something to eat. Rather than let me stop and buy something, Jonathan told me to wait until we got to the castle and we could have breakfast with Amity.

We walked past the gardens and continued on. I was going closer to the castle than I ever had before. I could actually make out individual blue-gray stones that were used to create the giant structure all those many years ago. I don't think I've really discussed the castle itself before now, so let me just say this: it is huge and very, very old. Well, parts of it were very, very old; over the years kings and queens had commissioned the construction of new parts. That's probably the reason why it had gotten so large, because I doubt that a single king or queen could have afforded to build the entire castle just as it is now and still keep his or her head firmly planted on their neck.

The door Jonathan led Mouse and me to was not the huge one in the front of the castle that you probably are imagining, but a small wooden door that opened up to a busy kitchen. Even though it was still early in the morning, the kitchen was filled with people busy preparing what could only be a feast worthy of a king. No brains required to figure out what all the food was for (I rather hope). Jonathan helped us weave our way through the kitchen, only stopping briefly to say hello to a sweet looking old lady before continuing on our journey through the castle.

"It must be amazing to live here," Mouse said as we walked through yet another unfamiliar hallway.

"But it must take an eternity to learn how to navigate all these hallways," I added. Sure, they looked grand, but there were so many of them!

"Believe it or not, there is a method to all this madness, Cat," Jonathan said. "Now hurry up, we're almost to Amity's room."

We rounded the corner and kept walking for a bit. Then, out of nowhere, Jonathan stopped in front of a seemingly random door, nearly causing me to walk right into him! The door didn't seem any more or less impressive than any of the other doors in that hallway, but upon closer inspection, I could see that this door had a tiny, crude crown shape carved at the top.

He knocked on the door and it almost immediately flew open to reveal Amity behind it. "Finally! It's about time that you got here! There's so much to do, but so little time!" Amity told Mouse and me as she ushered us into her room. To Jonathan she said, "Thanks for getting them for me. I owe you one." And with that, she closed the door on Jonathan before he could so much as get a word out. Brushing off her hands as if they were dirty, she turned around to face Mouse and me. "Let's put your things down over here on the table." She looked over at the said table and then realized there was food currently occupying it. "Okay, never-mind. Let's put those things down on my bed then. Yes, that'll work."

Seeing Amity so frazzled was almost as interesting as looking around her room. It was large and filled with luxuries worthy of a princess, yet still comfortable and had _Amity_ written all over it (not literally, mind you).

"When you invited us to get ready with you, I didn't think you meant we'd have to get up so early, Amity," Mouse joked.

Amity laughed. "I'm sorry, but can I make it up to you by offering breakfast? I'm assuming you haven't eaten yet, am I right?"

So then we were all sitting around Amity's table eating eggs, ham, and biscuits while she explained the game plan. I was amazed by how seriously she took preparing for a ball that wouldn't officially begin until late afternoon and would be spent wearing a mask half the time! I'll admit that I was zoning out as she talked. As I looked at her bright green eyes, I couldn't help but think of her older brother's eyes, which made me wonder if I would get a chance to see Bird before the ball. I voiced that last thought to Mouse and Amity, and they laughed as if there was no tomorrow.

"No!" Amity answered. "Just like Mouse can't see my other brother before the ball starts. Those boys' jaws will drop when they will finally get to see you all dolled up! Ooh! This is going to be so much fun! Oh, are you done yet, Cat? We can start right now!"

First thing first, we were led to the bath room, which had three large tubs (I had no idea if there were always three tubs in there, but I wasn't going to question everything that was happening to me at that point) filled with warm water. Each tub was separated by dividers, so it didn't feel like our privacy was being intruded upon while we were washing ourselves. Amity told us that she sent away any servants who would normally be at our sides to help us. "They'll come in later," she said.

After our relaxing baths, we used towels to pat ourselves dry and then put on thick robes to keep warm. Next up would be hair styling, according to Amity.

In Amity's room, I saw that the baskets that had previously held our things had been emptied, with all – and I do mean _all_ – of our belongings carefully laid out on the bed next to our dresses, which were unwrapped from the blankets.

"Oh, look at that! You two ladies are going to look gorgeous!" Amity exclaimed, clapping her hands a bit. "Now come over here and sit down in front of the mirror."

A middle-aged woman stepped into view, a team of girls behind her. "Cat, Mouse, this is Franny, my number-one maid," Amity introduced us. "She's like my other mother, and today she will be doing our hair."

We all got settled down and one girl came up to me and asked me if I knew how I wanted my hair done. When I responded that I didn't have any idea, Franny walked over to me and said, "What lovely hair you have! It's a beautiful color, and I know just how it should be styled … Are you okay with getting your hair cut, first? We'll get your hair to frame your face perfectly."

A hair cut? I couldn't say that I was expecting a hair cut, but I agreed to it nonetheless. If Amity trusted that woman, I could as well. She explained to me that she would cut my hair so it would hang a little past the tops of my shoulders, leave some side bangs that would frame my face, and then would put the rest of my hair up in a bun resembling a flower.

It is marvelous being pampered like a princess, I decided as I felt gentle hands brush the tangles out of my damp hair. Shoot. That reminded me that I hadn't told Amity about my recently discovered past. How would she react?

"Amity, I have something important to tell you," I said.

"Now?" she asked. "Is this important information something you also need to tell my brothers?"

I would have nodded, but since there were scissors chopping away at my hair, I just said, "Yes, I need to tell them as well, except –"

"Can it wait until the ball then? You can just tell us all together! You won't have to keep repeating it, that way."

"Well, I guess that would work." I bit my bottom lip for a second, but quickly stopped. There was nothing to worry about. I only needed to relax and enjoy the royal treatment.

Surprisingly enough, it took hours for the group of women to get our hair styled to perfection. I was elated over how my hair tuned out, and it seemed like Mouse and Amity were happy with their hair as well. Amity's had taken the shortest amount of time, seeing as her hair was put in a high ponytail that accentuated her cheekbones. Her hair was long and straight, making the simple hairdo seem elegant and sophisticated.

Mouse's hair, on the other hand, was done in a crown braid that wrapped around her head in a spiral that ended in the middle of the back of her head, with the end of the braid tucked away and out of sight. I had no idea how something so pretty was possible, but the end result was perfect.

I'm not going to bore you with detailed descriptions of what happened the rest of the day. I feel like I really should move on. After all, I'm sure you're getting overly-excited for me to just get to the ball, right?

Jokes were told, lunch was devoured, make-up skillfully applied, and finally, dresses were put on. Amity's mother (the queen!) even made a quick appearance during the ball-preparation process. She said that she was pleased to meet the two young ladies her children talked so much about and that all three of us were looking beautiful.

All we had left to do was put on our accessories and then walk down the stairs into the grand ballroom. I had carefully tied the red sash around my waist and was putting on my rose necklace and bracelet when I looked up to see Amity tying an orange sash around her waist. How odd to think that even the royal family couldn't wear the red sashes.

And finally, we walked out of Amity's room and into the grand ballroom. _Grand_ doesn't even begin to cover it. It was … amazing. There were ribbons of every color tastefully decorating the room and there were already so many people gathered. Each person there at the very least had a mask on, but some people were wearing full costumes. The small ensemble of string instrument players (also masked) had not yet begun to play, but looked as if they were ready to break into song at any second. Food covered tables that lined one wall of the room.

I was suddenly thankful for my mask. There were so many people there, looking up at us three, waiting for us to be announced. Not one of them had any idea who I was, a girl raised by a seamstress and currently working as a baker despite her royal heritage.

Amity stepped up first. She wore a yellow-gold dress with silver around the sleeves and skirt. Her mask, which basically just covered her eyes, was also golden, with a white rhombus in the center between the eyes. Her jewelry was simple: a silver necklace with a horseshoe charm.

"What is your pseudonym for tonight, miss?" a short man asked her.

"Gallop, if it is available," Amity replied, her chin held high.

Mouse was next. Her silver-blue dress and accessories caught the light and made the blue flames on her dress, mask, and decorative hair comb come alive. She proudly showed off the two rings she wore on the blue string around her neck. Her parents were with her in spirit, I could tell she was thinking. They would be so proud of their baby girl.

"And I'll be Fire," she told the man with complete confidence in herself.

Finally, I stepped up and told the man what I wished to be called for the night. "Rose, please."

The man exclaimed into the crowd, "Now announcing! Orange Lady Gallop! _Red_ Lady Fire! And _Red_ Lady Rose!"

Slowly, I descended the stairs with my friends. All the eyes in the ballroom were locked on us. Everyone wanted to see two of the five people who would be wearing red sashes that night. "Lady Fire"and I were the specially chosen ones, friends of royalty. Most everyone else in the room had on an orange sash, with a few greens and a handful of yellows, blues, and even purples.

I felt a hand tap on my shoulder as the three of us wandered down into the crowd. Amity winked at me and kept walking away with Mouse. I turned around and saw a young man standing there. His suit was mainly a dark green, with purple touches here and there. An orange sash draped from his left shoulder to right hip nearly looked out of place on him. His mask was made mostly of feathers, with the royal purple ones near circling the holes for his eyes and the rest of them a bright green the same color as the man's sparkling eyes. The nose of the mask was yellow and featherless. His brown hair was neatly trimmed and combed. A large smile spread across his masked face.

"Good evening, _Lady_ Rose," he said, taking my hand and placing a gentle kiss on the back of it. "You are looking beautiful tonight, if I may say so."

It was hard not to just start laughing and hugging him. I managed to say, "Thank you, _Lord_ Bird. You are looking quite dashing yourself."

"Lady Rose, I never even had the chance to introduce myself," he pointed out.

"It would take more than a mask to hide yourself from me, Lord Bird."

We both softly laughed, trying not to disturb the other people around us. Then he said, "May I have the first dance of the night with you, my fair lady?"

I nodded and placed my arm on his as he led us over to the middle of the dance floor just as the musical ensemble prepared themselves for the first dance song of the night. He placed one hand on my waist and the other took my hand in his as I held my skirt with my free hand. The music started, and we began to dance.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Brimo**_, _**HauntedApple, LittleBarredOwl, **_and_** Pokemonchen**_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	32. 3-32 Behind the Mask

_**Part 3: Smell the Roses**_

_**Chapter 32: Behind the Mask**_

_The Thirty-first of December_

**-0-**

Two words that simply do not apply to me are "graceful dancer." Still, for the two songs I spent dancing with Bird, I had fun. The music was just right and my company was perfect. Who cared about what other people might have been thinking about my lack of dancing skills? I think I might have spent the entire night happily dancing so long as Bird was my partner and there hadn't been other things to do and people to see.

Between the second and third songs, we were going to wander off the dance floor for a bit to grab a bite of food, or something along that line. However, a man cut us off in order to ask me to join him in the next dance. It would have been rude of me to decline, seeing as how Bird had no substantial claim on me, so I gave the prince an apologetic glance before accepting the offer.

Everything about this man was average, from his height to the color of his hair and skin. His mask was solid orange, which went with his orange sash. I took his outstretched hand as he led me back onto the dance floor in time for us to start the next song.

"So," he began to say in an effort to start up a conversation, "for tonight I am supposed to be called Lord Orange."

"Pleased to meet you," I replied politely. We danced and had a decent conversation, but I mainly tried to focus on not stepping on his toes. Thankfully, I managed to avoid stepping on anybody's toes all night.

Anyway, after that dance, another person asked me to dance and I found myself unable to decline when he asked so kindly. That was my fourth dance of the night, and while I did not plan on sticking around the dance floor for the fifth dance of the night, another person asked me while I was walking away.

Again, I agreed to dance. He introduced himself and I managed to say a quick greeting before he started rambling on about the weather, how nice the decorations looked, how pretty I looked, how he had no idea who I could be beneath the mask, how he received dance lessons starting at the age of six. In other words, he told me his life story and I eventually tuned him out to listen to the people around us talking because it was starting to feel like I was dancing to the longest song of my life.

"Do you have any idea who Lady Rose is?" I heard one woman ask her friend.

"No, but I heard from Janette that she is a count's sister from another kingdom who bribed one of the princes into giving her a red sash," the other woman said.

"Really? I heard from Bethany that Judith said she is the daughter of the tzar of Ruzci, and the king and queen are working with the tzar to set their children up."

Where in the world did they come up with those things? I hadn't the faintest idea. Then again, their useless speculation reminded me of the fact that I had some news to share with my royal friends.

As the song came to an end at last, I thanked the man I was with for the dance and walked away from everyone dancing before anyone came up to me again. Then came the really hard part: finding my friends. It turned out to not be so hard in the end, because one of them found me first. Familiar grey eyes stared at me through the holes of a silver mask belonging to a young man walking up to me.

"And now I finally get to see the other mysterious red lady of the dance. How has your day been since I last saw you, Lady Rose?" Jonathan asked me. Everything he wore was either silver or grey and his sash was – surprisingly enough – red.

I smiled. "It has definitely been an interesting day, Lord …"

"Sir," Jonathan said, earning a confused look from me. "Lord Sir."

If there hadn't been people all around us, watching the two people with red sashes talking, then I might have playfully hit him on the arm or something. Since I couldn't, I settled with softly laughing and shaking my head.

"The lady wounds me, laughing at my name," Jonathan dramatically said. "Would the lady be willing to stop laughing for a minute and dance with the poor Lord Sir?"

"How about this: you help me find the others and then I'll dance with you after," I bargained.

"You've got yourself a deal," Jonathan said with a grin. "If you follow me, they are all conveniently located this way."

Jonathan led me over to the wall where all the tables with food were set up. It took but a couple minutes for me to spot the back of Mouse's head. My friends all seemed to be munching on something and I was hungry, so I snatched the first thing I could reach from the food table. I took a large bite into my biscuit and stepped into the circle my pals had formed.

"So you finally found us," one person said. It took me no time at all to figure out that he was Arvin. He was wearing all black. His mask was shaped like a cat's face, with the region around his nose curved so that it resembled a cat's muzzle. Since the mask was also black, his bright green eyes shone even brighter. What completed his outfit, though, was the fact that he wore his orange sash tied around his waist so the ends hung behind him like a tail. Knowing Arvin, he was Lord Panther.

"I assumed that generally the point of a masquerade ball is to wear masks and not have your identity known, so excuse me for not being here sooner," I said, taking another bite of my biscuit.

"I don't think anyone would know who I am even without my mask," Mouse said, sounding a tinge bitter about it.

"I'd recognize you as one of the best people I know," Arvin said, slinging an arm casually around her shoulders, "and that's all that matters."

"Moving on!" Amity jumped in. "Cat … er, Rose told me earlier that she has something to tell us. Do you want to share now or later?"

"Oh, yes, now would be a lovely time since we are all here," I said. "Well, gather in close, I don't want everyone here at the ball to overhear this … Okay, a bit over three weeks ago I ran into my mother, Feya, and she told me something mind-blowing. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, but I don't want to say it more than I need to.

"You know of the Orroses, right?"

"Yes, they are here tonight, actually," Bird said. "But what do they have to do with this?"

"It turns out that Feya isn't my birth mother and I'm not really a Derose." I whispered this next bit, "I was born Catherine Orrose."

I bit my lip and watched everyone around me (minus Mouse) stare at me and process what I just said. You could practically see the wheels turning in their minds.

"That makes you –" Bird started, to be interrupted by Amity, who said, "Then why are you –"

And then our dear Amity was interrupted by an announcer shouting, "It is time for the royal families and the red sash bearers to gather at the top of the grand staircase immediately." It was time for the unmasking ceremony.

That call applied to everyone in my group, so it looked like we'd all go up together. Bird walked right next to me and took my hand in his. "Your title never mattered to me, Rose. Nothing has really changed," he told me as we walked up the stairs. I gave his hand a quick squeeze in thanks for his words.

Seconds felt like minutes and minutes like hours as we waited for everyone else to come up the stairs. I was reduced to little more than a bundle of nerves. Finally, we were all lined up along the railing.

"First up, Lady Gallop is Princess Amity Fallance of Spelika!" Amity reached behind her head and untied her mask, pulling it away with some flourish and a smile. "Next, Lord Panther is Prince Arvin Fallance of Spelika! Lord Bird is Crown Prince Stephan of Spelika! Lady Moon is Queen Clara Fallance of Spelika! And Lord Sun is none other than King Landry Fallance of Spelika!"

The announcer, paused to give the people in the crowd a couple of minutes to applaud. The members of Spelika's royal family – excluding Sarina, the youngest Fallance, who was likely too young to come to a ball like this one – tied their masks to themselves by threading their orange sashes through the eyes in the meantime.

King Landry, who looked like Bird but older, with a beard, and with a larger girth, stepped up to speak once the crowd had quieted down. "Hello, and thank you for coming to this year's Sash Festival masquerade ball!" The king spoke for a couple minutes explaining the tradition of each royal giving one red sash away each year to a friend. Everyone knew the story, but perhaps this was the standard speech he gave every year.

"This year, however," the king continued, "we have another set of special guests all the way from Arode." He raised his arm in the direction of one group of people who were all wearing either red or orange sashes. The king took a step back and allowed the announcer to resume identifying the honored guests.

"Lady Fairy is Feya Nowings of Arode!" Of course Feya was here, of course! Her eyes met mine and she winked as she pulled off her mask.

"Lord Jack is Crown Prince Kye Orrose of Arode!" Prince Kye took off his decorative mask and I couldn't help but gasp slighly. Prince Kye – my brother! I have a brother! – had short brown hair and blue eyes, just like the man we saw climbing a tree earlier this week. To be exact, Prince Kye _was_ the man climbing the tree! I could feel Mouse nudging me in the side, so she noticed too.

While the crowd was clapping, I noticed Feya turning back slightly to say something to the announcer. Whatever she was saying, she was whispering. He looked surprised, but gave a curt nod.

"And all who remain now are the red sash bearers!" the announcer yelled to the crowd. "King Landry's guest, Lord Black, is King Lucas Orrose of Arode!" The man pulled off his mask as his identity was announced. For the first time since I was a baby, I could see my father. He had big brown eyes and red hair and beard that was mostly grey.

"Queen Clara's guest, Lady White, is Queen Emilia Orrose of Arode!" My real mother had chocolate brown hair and blue eyes. As much as I thought she looked like she could be a kind and loving mother, she was no more than a stranger to me. A beautiful stranger, don't get me wrong, but a stranger nonetheless.

"Crown Prince Stephan's guest, Lord Sir, is Sir Jonathan Daniels of Spelika!" Applause. "Prince Arvin's guest, Lady Fire, is Ratana Hans of Spelika!" Applause. Oh, shoot. I was next. "Princess Amity's guest, Lady Rose, is Princess Catharine Orrose of Arode!"

The surprise and confusion was palpable in the air. I was the lost princess who was thought to be dead. I was confused because I thought that part of my identity was top secret. Why share information like that to everyone in at a ball? Obviously it had been what Feya had told the announcer, but _why_?

As the people in the room clapped, I felt hands reach behind me and gingerly untie my mask. I turned and Bird handed me it. "Smile," he reminded me.

A few final words were said by the announcer and King Landry, but the end of the ceremony was soon over. Everyone in the room could take off their masks and return to the dancing, eating, and talking. There would be a lot to talk about that night.

Bird and I walked together over to where our parents were talking. "Father, Mother, this is Catharine, the girl I have been talking to you about," Bird said, introducing me to his parents. I curtsied.

"The lost princess of Arode, right under our noses the entire time!" Queen Clara said, shaking her head. "Pleased to officially meet you, Catharine."

"She's certainly no commoner, a plus!" King Landry said, pleased.

Arvin and Amity introduced Mouse to their parents next. In the meantime, a hand on my shoulder brought my attention to Feya. "I hope you can forgive me for suddenly releasing your identity to the public like that, my little princess. Since I saw you here, I decided there is no better place to come out now that Wiltera has been caught."

"What? That's great news!" I said. After all this time she was finally caught, and suddenly too.

"Yes, it is. Now why don't you come over here and we can meet your parents?"

Queen Emilia, my mother, immediately pulled me into a large hug. I froze for a second, but then I returned the hug. She pulled away first and studied my face. "You look just like your father," she said. Her eyes were beginning to look a little red, as if she was about to start crying.

"No," said King Lucas, my father. "She is much too pretty to look just like me."

I was pulled into another hug, this time by the man also known as my brother. "Hello there, sis. Long time no see. What has it been, four days now?"

Well, my new-old family was certainly excited to see me. They were so welcoming that it washed away any of my fears that I wouldn't fit in because I had been raised as a commoner in another kingdom. The only think that took a little getting used to was the accent.

"I wish I never had to send you away," the queen said as the first tear rolled down her cheek. "I wish I could have watched you grow up into the young lady you are now, but your safety was much more important."

"Oh, what a touching family reunion," said an eerily familiar voice from the side.

I froze. No. There was no possible way that voice could belong to whom I thought it did. They got her just yesterday. It was supposed to be safe for me now. I slowly turned to see Wiltera smirking at me as she pulled off a white mask. She wore a long, simple white dress. I think, for once, she was actually looking her real age, which made her about my mother's age. Her hair was once completely inky black, but there were now she had white hairs mixed in as well. There were a few wrinkles starting to form on her face and her eyes were black and wild.

"Hello, sweetie," she said. "Miss me?"

Someone shouted for guards and my family moved so they were standing between me and Wiltera. I could still see her between their heads, though. I watched as she flicked her finger in the direction of some guards and have them immediately pass out and collapse on the ground.

The people down on the dance floor began to notice that something was horrible wrong. A few people were escaping through the large doors that led to the gardens, while others were watching the drama unfold. I envied the people who could run away.

My friends, who previously knew little or nothing about Wiltera, began to move back, closer to me. I know that we could hardly even be considered adults, but it made me feel safer to have them around me. I clung to Bird's arm and tried to move so Mouse was behind me, as if she was the one we were protecting.

"I hope you know that the only way you could ever catch me would be if I let you," Wiltera bragged. "It gives you a false sense of security."

"What do you want, witch?" my father asked harshly. His face was more red than his beard.

Wiltera took a few steps forward as she retorted, "Is that any way to treat an old friend, Lucas?"

"The day you threatened my daughter was the day I ceased considering you a friend." That was my mother. She wasn't as red as my father, but she was just as mad. Under that anger, though, she was terrified.

"You've already taken away their daughter for all these years," Feya said, stepping forward one step. "Isn't that enough? Must this madness continue?"

Something in Wiltera snapped. She clenched her fists and her nostrils flared once. "It was because of _you_ all that I lost my baby girl. She is _gone_ and it is all _your_ fault that I will _never_ be able to see her again! You should have considered yourself lucky I did not target you all instead of just the girl. I was just going to steal her away and raise her like my own, but you decided to sneak away like a thief in the night first.

"It took me awhile to find her, but you forgot one crucial detail: her necklace." Wiltera raised one finger and pointed at me. My hand flew up to my neck where my necklace rested. The gems that were shaped like a rose and leaves no longer seemed like something to be cherished, but a curse.

"I have its sister," she said, pointing at her necklace. I vaguely remembered seeing it before. The stone in the center was black and carved into a flower and there were two green emeralds shaped like leaves on each side. The chain was silver, as opposed to my gold. "Once I realized you stupidly gave the girl that necklace, I used it to track her down."

I felt sick to my stomach as Wiltera went on. "You know, I have been practicing my magic and getting much better. You are going to regret ever betraying me. All of you."

Then, a wind storm went wild in the ballroom. Anyone who had been sticking around to watch decided at that point it would have been much too dangerous and ran away while they still could, hopefully to get help, although I wasn't going to push my luck. I really wished that someone had a sword or something. I felt helpless standing there as the wind pulled my hair out of the bun and whipped the strands in my face.

Using my free arm (because one of them had Bird's arm in a death grip) to hold my hair out of my face so I could see what was going on. What I saw next was something I shall never forget.

Wiltera raised her arms up and black spots began to appear along her fingertips, racing down her arms and body and up her neck on to her face. As her fingernails began to form claws, a black tail began to appear and wings started forming. Wiltera started growing larger and larger and all her features were changing until my group of family and friends came face-to-face with an angry, gigantic black dragon with a white underbelly and green eyes.

Her mouth was open and twisted into what must have been a wicked smile. The air pouring out of her mouth distorted everything, letting us know just how hot the fire burning inside her was. "Who isss ready to turn up the heat?" the creature hissed. "Prepare yourssselvesss to be burnt to a crisssp."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to _**Daliah Valley**, __**HauntedApple, Pokemonchen, Brimo, LeyahRayne, **_and _GuestCelebrindal_ for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	33. 3-33 Dragon Fire

_**Part 3: Smell the Roses**_

_**Chapter 33: Dragon Fire**_

_The Thirty-first of December_

**-0-**

Sometimes it is best to step aside and not try to be a hero, but people all too often stupid, brave things when they are in life-threatening situations. For some people it is all about self-preservation; if becoming a hero means the possibility of their own survival, then those people will rise to the occasion. Other people have strive only to protect the ones they care most about without a care in the world if they themselves live or die trying; so long as their beloved ones remain safe, they can rest in peace. And there are other people who will do whatever it takes in order to achieve wealth, power, and fame while ignoring the possibility that they may fail.

I was hoping that it would be one of those instances that would lead to someone trying to save their royal family and royal guests. Feya was probably the only one in our group who had the ability to fight Wiltera due to her magical capabilities as a half-fairy. Everyone else was weaponless. Surprisingly enough, not one guard had come to our side ever since Wiltera caused those few to pass out. The remaining guards had carried their fallen comrades away and never came back. I prayed that it had been more of Wiltera's magic keeping them away and not cowardice. Whichever way, we were alone with an angry dragon.

As I stared at the muzzle of a dragon who was about to kill me and my friends, my mind was going wild. Time seemed to slow as Wiltera opened her mouth up and began the process of creating a fireball that would incinerate us all as soon as she spit it at us. Part of me was preoccupied with bringing everyone I cared about into a giant hug, as if holding Bird and Mouse might spare them from the black dragon's fury. Actually, I think that was on everyone's mind in some way. Father was trying to shield mother and mother was trying to cover me. The king and queen of Spelika were doing pretty much the same except they were trying to cover their own children. Arvin was attempting to cover his twin and Mouse, and Amity was doing the same. Jonathan was trying to cover the royals, especially Amity. Bird was holding me while I was mainly a shield for Mouse. Mouse was trying to protect me, Amity, and Arvin with much less success.

Another part of me was focused on the fire. The inside of her mouth lit up from the fire rising up her throat from some region in her gut. The first tongues of flame were appearing in Wiltera's mouth, growing larger and brighter and reaching out towards us as they grew. The fireball was, in a horrible way, terrifyingly beautiful.

Even though a portion of myself wished death would be quick and painless, the rest was thinking of how we could survive. What could I do that would convince a murderous dragon-witch from sending us up in flames? All I needed was a way for the others to live.

Yet before my mind could settle on a single plan, the fireball was released and I could only watch in horror. For the last split-second I closed my eyes, thinking that surely I was a goner. I waited for the pain to sink in, for the unbearable heat to finish me off.

It never came. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes to find out what miracle must have happened. Yet there was no miracle, just Feya. Her hands were up in the air pressed against what could only be described as a magic bubble. It looked like a thin, glowing, purple bubble of water had hardened around the group, giving us a terrifying view of the flames as they hit the shield. It was just large enough to cover us, but I could see King Landry wince as the unforgiving flames hit the floor outside of the shield.

The fire stopped when Wiltera realized the fire was not hurting us. She growled and swiped her tail at the shield, but it bounced off our protective barrier without even leaving a mark. Feya was obviously strained by the attack; she clenched her jaw and closed her eyes in concentration. Wiltera's eyes narrowed and she furiously began to swipe her large, clawed paws at us.

That did the trick. My adoptive mother's blue eyes flew over and met my eyes as she gasped and collapsed, the purple barrier vanishing as she fell. Feya passed out. Wiltera paused her onslaught and watched as I pushed my way over to Feya, just to lift her head onto my lap and to hold her hand. Tears rushed down my face.

"How funny," Wiltera said. "She isss not even your mother and you rush to her ssside." She opened her mouth once more and prepared her flames. There was no one who could stop her. We would all die in the fire. My family: gone. My royal friends: gone. Bird: gone. Mouse … Gwen and Peter would be devastated. And I couldn't forget about Bird's little sister, Sarina. She had ben too young to go to the ball and she would be all alone if her family was killed. I couldn't let this happen, but what could I have done?

Wiltera was about to spew the fire at us, and there was no time left. I leaped up from my position and yelled at the top of my voice, "Stop!" What was I doing? I could hear the others ask me under their breath the same thing and felt a hand on my arm. I didn't turn to see whom it was.

Startled, Wiltera closed her mouth and cut off the fire before it even had the chance to hurt us. "What do you want, child? Lassst wishesss?"

I racked my brain for something to say. It was like the weight of the world rested on my shoulders. I had to say something that could save my friends. Anything. Then I came up with a desperate idea that might just work.

Sometimes it is best to not be a hero, but if there were no heroes, then the world would be a much worse place. A person like me, not very talented at anything but reading an entire afternoon and being able to identify any type of fabric, surely was not the type of person who could pull off a derring-do every other day and live to tell the tale. The most heroic thing I ever did was donate some money or food to children who needed it.

Yet this time, a hero was needed. Each and every person around me was important in some way, especially Mouse, the girl who taught me what loyalty and friendship mean. I was willing to do _anything_ for these people. I just hoped they could forgive me.

"Take me," I finally said, looking at Wiltera, the black dragon, right in her big green eyes. Green eyes that were so similar to Bird's, yet so very different. "Take me, kill me, do whatever you want with me, but spare the others."

A chorus of "NO!"s popped up behind me, and my arm was yanked so I could look Bird right in the eyes. "Don't do this," he whispered. I shook my head and turned back to Wiltera.

"What would I have to gain by jussst taking you? I could kill all of you now."

I took a step forward. "I will go willingly. I will never fight back or complain. Your daughter would have been my age, right? Take me as your daughter. No funny business … Or just kill me and get the whole 'an eye for an eye' thing over with."

Wiltera wrapped her paw around me and lifted me up gently. I ignored the protests and colorful words of the others behind me and focused on what Wiltera was saying: "Are you really ssso willing to give yourssself up for thessse people?"

"Yes," I said with a nod. "I owe them everything. They are my friends; I love them."

"Let her go, you beast!" I heard a voice say from the group. It belonged to my father.

Wiltera growled and then stretched her dragon wings open. "If you foolsss follow me, then she diesss," she hissed and seconds later she flew away through the enormous stained-glass window with me in her clutches. My friends and family cried out and wailed, but there was nothing I could do any more. They were alive and unharmed that was all that mattered.

**-0-**

The moon was full above us and the air was unbelievably cold, making me thankful that Wiltera was so warm. We had been flying for a long time and pretty much nothing had been said. I reckoned that my captor was more focused on not crashing, seeing as how she was so unused to her present form.

For every minute that we flew I gave up more hope that my friends and family would ever find me or see me again alive. We were so far away from the castle and she avoided the villages and towns. They would never be able to track us. We flew for so long that when the sun finally peaked up over the horizon, I was surprised. What was even more astonishing was that Wiltera landed soon after.

She set me down on the ground before attempting to land herself. As soon as her paws hit the earth, she began her transformation back into a human. Her simple dress was still completely intact and looked to be in pristine condition when she finished. Mine, however, was not exactly looking very nice still. It was completely wrinkled and ripped in paces where Wiltera's dragon scales had rubbed against it. There was a large tear where Wiltera's claw had snagged my dress as she had been setting me down. My mask had fallen while we were flying long ago, as had each of my shoes.

But I was still in one piece, I figured as I shivered from the freezing cold. I might even have been in better condition than Wiltera, seeing as how she looked physically and mentally exhausted. The emotions flickering across her face ranged from sadness to anger to some unidentifiable emotion.

"This is Gransee, my village," the witch said, her arm held out in the direction of a ghost town. There were small wooden houses, each of them looking like they were about to collapse. One house in particular caught my eye and I walked towards it.

"Not now," Wiltera snapped, grabbing my arm and leading me to one of the other rotting houses. Inside there were two cots that actually looked usable. Wiltera pushed me down onto one. "Rest. By noon I will decide what to do with you. There is nothing that could be used as a weapon, so do not bother looking."

I could only keep my eyes open long enough to see Wiltera sink down into the other cot.

**-0-**

"There are so many memories here," I woke up to Wiltera saying to herself. "Too many bad ones."

I pushed myself up and looked up through the holes in the ceiling to see that it was around noon. I was still alive, apparently. No one had cut my throat while I was asleep.

"Get up, Catharine, and eat this," Wiltera ordered me, no kindness in her voice. She handed me some dried meat which I devoured without caring about poisons and whatnot. If she had wanted to kill me, I would not have been still alive at that point.

"You are in for a history lesson today. Follow me." At first I did follow her, but as soon as I saw the snow I stopped walking. Wiltera glared at me and then snapped her fingers, causing boots to appear on my feet and a cloak to pop on my back. "Hurry up. And do not say a word."

She took me to the house I had wanted to study earlier. Much of it was burnt and falling apart. There were a few things built of stone, unlike the other houses, which were standing more-or-less tall. What was most flabbergasting, though, was the red rose garden that completely surrounded the house. It was as if the snow could not fall in that one spot and spring was very much present there.

"I was born here," Wiltera said, her eyes trained on the ruins. "When I was two years old, my parents died and orphaned me. I was temporarily taken in by other villagers, but they gave me to the first traveler who passed through. They considered it lucky that it was a kitchen servant of the royal family of Arode who was going back to the castle after visiting her sister. I grew up in the castle and served your mother when she was a young princess. She pitied me enough to become my friend, and so did Feya, another one of your mother's companions. The three of us were inseparable as children.

"But I grew up faster than the other two. My adoptive mother died when I was fifteen. I constantly worked to fully support myself. They looked down at me and offered to pay for whatever I wanted. I refused help. I left the castle the next year and retuned to Gransee, where I learned about my magic and how to use it."

There was a long pause. I wanted to say things and ask questions so badly, but I remained silent.

"I thought I fell in love when I was nineteen. The man was dreadfully handsome and wealthy. It took me a year to gather up the courage to even speak to him and then we did couple things together for years. When I was twenty-one, I told him I wanted to get married and have children. He did not. He got me pregnant when I was twenty-two. I told him I was expecting and about my magic soon after. He left and never came back.

"I had my baby Gabriella. We lived together in this house until I was taken away by soldiers. Stupid, clumsy fools … You know how the rest goes, except the part where I scared the other villagers away years ago." She turned to me, but I refused to look her in the eyes.

She had told me a great deal, but it didn't answer everything. "Why did you try to get me to kill Mouse?" I finally asked when I found my voice.

"To show you friendship is an illusion. So when your parents found you, they would see their daughter was a murderer. You would be arrested and someone else would kill you for your crime, brat."

"Oh … Why did you take up my offer?"

"Because there are some things worse than death. I was ready to kill you all, but taking you away from all of them, all those fools who believe in love and friendship, would be like ripping out their hearts. I should have killed just you then, but when I looked into your eyes, I saw myself and I saw my Gabriella."

I felt bad for Wiltera, I really did. When she wasn't trying to kill me, she wasn't bad. She was just lost and lonely. She could rage on and on, but down inside she was sick and tired of it all. Yet none of that truly excused her actions.

"You have two choices, Catharine: you must either stand where you are or lie down on the rose bush until sunset. Nothing else. You cannot escape." With that, she walked away, leaving me to wonder what kind of punishment this was supposed to be.

Standing alone in the freezing snow became miserable after awhile. Even with the warm coat and boots, I could feel the cold seeping in. I eyed the roses, which had no snow on them, and wondered if it was somehow warmer there. But lying down on the roses was a ridiculous thought. There were thorns and sure wouldn't be comfortable.

I occupied myself with mind games until the sun finally set and Wiltera ordered me back into the abandoned house. Food was given to me and then I was sent to bed for the night.

**-0-**

The next day I was up at sunrise, handed cheese and bread to last me through the day, and given the same order to stand where I had yesterday or lie in the roses. I stood the entire day, pretty much frozen into place until Wiltera finally told me to return to the house.

The same thing happened the next day and the day after that and the day after that one. The day after began much the same way, except I had only stood alone in the snow for about an hour when Wiltera came over to me holding a jar. She scattered the contents all around me in the snow. They were lentils, and she told me to gather them all and put them in the jar again.

Half of me was thankful for the busy work, while the other half rued the fact that I had to go digging through the snow for hundreds of green lentils. Worse, snow began to fall soon after, covering the lentils up. I began to grow frustrated. I was far from home and the people who cared about me doing a stupid, miserable task. By noon I was ready to give up, regardless of whatever Wiltera's consequence was.

I lasted one more hour before I stomped over to the rose bush and set my coat down over the thorny plant. When I lied on top of my coat, I was warm, as if it was not snowing a step away. It still was not comfortable at all and I could feel a few thorns go through the coat and dig into me. I was so cold that the pain was numbed a bit, but I was thawing out in the warm spot.

I looked up at the sky in defeat. Next thing I know, I saw four birds flying into sight. The fact that each bird was a different color didn't throw me off as much as the fact that there were birds there at all. I hadn't seen any for a long time, so I figured all the birds in the region had flown south for the winter or whatnot.

The birds swooped down once they got near and landed where I had been standing moments ago near the half-empty lentils jar. Not even one bird gave the jar a second glance as they moved over to where I lied.

"Psst, Catharine," a purple bird said. Yes, you read that correctly: a purple _bird_ said that.

I thought I was going crazy. I had obviously spent too much time in the snow alone because birds do not talk. Giggles bust out of me and turned into laughter as I tried to move my freezing hand in the "shoo" gesture.

A green bird moved forward. "Is she okay?" he asked softly. "Rose, be quiet and tell us if the witch has done anything to hurt you. And why are you sitting on the flowers?"

What a funny bird. "I've given up! No more standing in the snow or picking up lentils!" I replied with a cheery voice, throwing what remained of my bread at the animals.

"Come on, Cat. Get up and we'll take you home," a small blue bird said from in the back, ignoring the food.

"Catharine, who are you talking to?" Wiltera asked me, appearing nearby out of nowhere. She saw the birds and yelled at them, "I told you to stay away! I told you!"

Wiltera flicked her hand in my direction and then the rose bushes began to grow rapidly, their thorny branches and stalks wrapping around me before I even had the chance to figure out what was going on. I couldn't move and the thorns were digging into my skin, causing me to shout out in pain.

As the flowers grew around me, Wiltera transformed herself into a dragon once more. The four tiny birds would never stand a chance … Oh, the birds transformed into people faster than it took Wiltera to change. Feya and an unfamiliar man with butterfly wings protruding from his back changed first and then held their arms out towards the other two birds, who became Mouse and Bird. All four of them were armed with at least a sword (although Mouse probably had no idea what in the world to do with hers).

Wiltera, by then in the form of a large black dragon with the while underbelly, blew fire towards us, which Feya and the man blocked easily. Mouse, in the meantime, pulled out a small knife (it could hardly be called a dagger) and started chopping away at the flowers around me, careful to not cut away pieces of me as well.

It was slow work for everyone. Wiltera's fire did no damage, so she began to attack with claw and tooth. The male fairy threw balls of magic-energy at her (I had not and still do not have any idea what he was doing with the magic, honestly), Feya and Bird slashed at the dragon with their swords, and Mouse was still cutting the flowers back. My arms were freed, but it was difficult to free my skirt.

Fire was blasted in my direction, but Feya and the man shielded us just in time. The other flowers around me, however, were not so fortunate. They went up in flames, causing what was left of the ruined house to catch on fire as well. Wiltera let out a cry of dismay and in one large leap went over to the house and transformed back into a human. She used her magic to toss water onto the fire.

She was distracted long enough for Bird to rush to my side and help cut the plant away from me. Feya and the fairy even got over to me. The man waved a hand and then the bush started retracting back, giving me the chance to walk away before the flames got too close to me. Unfortunately, I moved away without looking and got closer to Wiltera rather than further.

"Look what you have done!" Wiltera screamed. She was so delirious with anger and sadness that she couldn't stop the fire from getting out of control. The witch spun around and looked at me. Her hand changed into the shape of a dragon's paw, claws and all, and swiped at me because I got too close.

There was an unbelievable pain in my arm, but instinct took over and I pushed Wiltera back before any of my friends could so much as flinch. Wiltera took a few steps back as she tied to regain her balance, but instead she tripped, falling down at the doorway of the burning house.

Bird pulled me back, picking me up bridal style. I wrapped my arms around his neck and glanced at Wiltera. She had forced herself back on to her feet and lifted her arms as if she was about to start a new spell, but there was a loud cracking sound. Wiltera looked up and the look of horror on her face was crystal clear as the remains of the burning house came down.

The male fairy acted quickly, summoning water from the snow, air, and ground and put out the fire completely. He moved in closer to inspect the damage as I buried my face into Bird's chest because I refused to look at my surroundings any more.

"The building fell on top of her," the man announced. "Wiltera Vinal is dead."

A horrible mental image came to me, one of Wiltera in her white ball dress changing to red. I passed out in Bird's arms.

**-0-**

I was not aware of anything for awhile. It was all darkness before the dreams began. I shall not describe the things I dreamt of, for they were a mix of good and bad things. Then, it was darkness once more when the dreams came to a halt. I was not quite conscious, but I could hear the voices.

"The healers said that you aren't in a coma or anything, but that you were so exhausted we should let you sleep as your body heals," the first voice I remember said. "Still, I just felt like coming here to talk to you.

"When I first walked into the bakery so long ago, I never expected to befriend some girls who worked there. But there you were, talking to me about imported silks, which definitely caught my attention. You always understood me when I talked about fashion _or_ adventure, and I appreciate that. But more than that, you've saved me twice. You're one of the best people I've ever met, so thank you for that. I shouldn't be surprised that you're a princess, you are so giving and kind. Just hurry and wake up, okay? I think Stephan is going to …"

I drifted back into sleep. And then I remember another voice: "You've been sleeping for a long time now. Feya said you'll be waking up any time now. You scared all of us, Cat, especially me. You are my best friend, and I don't know what I'd do with myself if you had died. But thank you for saving us. Just never scare us like that again …" There was a pause. "Everyone has visited you, you know. Feya's fairy-man-friend was one visitor. Even Princess Sarina came. She drew you a cute card. And Stephan didn't leave your side until the king and queen made him. Now _that_ was funny!"

"I'm right here, you know," another voice said. "Well looky there! She's smiling! Rose …"

I didn't wake up until the day after that, apparently. I just knew it was time to get up and my eyes popped open. I was in a large, nicely furnished room. The bed I was lying in was one of the most comfortable things I've ever been in. Beyond that, I knew nothing about where I was.

There was movement next to me. A pair of arms wrapped around me in a hug. "You're awake!" Bird said joyfully. "I have to tell the others! Stay here!" He planted a quick kiss on my cheek and rushed out of the room. Less than a minute later, the room was filled with people asking me how I felt, thanking me, and chastising me for being such a stupid, brave young lady.

"Er … What happened after I blacked out?" I asked when I had the chance.

"We carried you to the next village," Mouse responded. "There we got a cart that we put you down in and took you to where the fairies are."

"You're lucky that Feya has connections," Bird whispered in my ear. "They normally don't like us people that much"

Mouse continued, "The fairies magicked us here, to the castle in the capital of Spelika. You've been asleep for about three days now."

They then went into describing what had happened after I left with Wiltera and how they found me. They worried so much about me.

"Now that Feya is gone, you can come home to Arode," my birth mother said. "You can get to know your real family and learn to become a true princess."

"If if means anything to you," I responded slowly, "I would love to visit you there and get to know everyone, but Arode is not my home. Home is where the heart is, and all my friends are right here around me. This is home and they are my family."

"I figured you would say something like that, my darling princess," Queen Emilia said.

I asked Mouse and Bird to help me up out of bed. Feya warned me that my arm had been cut badly by Wiltera's claws so I had to be careful not to strain myself. Once I was standing, I saw that I was wearing a simple pale green gown. My green ball gown must have been torn to shreds by the time someone changed me.

People slowly started to leave the room when I was able to walk by myself. Feya told me before she left with my parents and brother that she was so proud of everything I had accomplished over the years.

Jonathan, Amity, and Arvin left next, making plenty of jokes that left me laughing. It was so nice to see them again. Laughter was the best medicine.

I sat down on the edge of my bed with Mouse on my left and Bird on my right. They each brought out half of a familiar mask. My masquerade mask had been broken in half vertically, and apparently they had found the pieces.

"We could get it fixed, I think," Mouse offered. "If you want, that is."

I pulled my best friends into a large hug, ignoring the stinging in my arm. "I don't really care about the mask. I have the two of the most important people I know next to me. Mouse, the girl I've spent all of my life with so far," I said, giving her a friendly kiss on the cheek, "and Bird, the man I want to spend the rest of my life with." I gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Don't you dare ever leave me," I whispered, hugging them some more.

Mouse joked, "I could say the same to you, missy."

"Ditto, my beautiful princess," Bird said with a smirk before pulling me into another kiss.

"Not again! I'm going to go tell the twins and Jonathan," she threatened, causing all of us to laugh as she playfully left the room to fetch our other friend once more. Bird took advantage of her absence and pulled me closer to him once more. I smiled. All was good in the world. With my friends and family by my side, things could only get better.

Without further ado:

_The End_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Many thanks to **_Pokemonchen_**, _**HauntedApple, Brimo, **_and_** book lover **_for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren


	34. Bonus-34 Mouse's Tale

_**Bonus**_

_**Chapter 34: Mouse's Tale**_

_The Nineteenth of January_

**-0-**

Hello there! Ratana here, but call me Mouse. Or considering that you can't actually speak to me, think of me as Mouse or something. I haven't the faintest idea what I am supposed to be doing, so please bear with me. Cat just handed me this book and asked me to have the final word on the last few pages. And who am I to decline my best friend? I'm no writer (in my very humble opinion), but I'll do my best.

Let's see, where did Cat leave off? Oh yes, it was the day Sleeping Beauty finally woke up. It seems like forever has passed since then, but I can remember it like it was just yesterday. Unluckily for me, Cat has already filled you in on everything exciting that went down on that day so I have to think of another place to begin.

Okay, so … Once Cat finally woke up, she recovered pretty quickly. Either Stephan or I was at her side at all times to make sure that she ate her food (which I helped cook because Arvin showed me the way to the kitchens) to get her eating healthily again and to make sure she didn't hurt herself. The doctors were hesitant on declaring Cat well enough to go out and have some fun due to her status as a princess, but Cat grew frustrated after a week and all but demanded that they let her go back home with me. After that –

You know what? I simply cannot write like Cat does. I'm going to do things slightly differently if that's fine with you. It'll help me sort my thoughts. Starting now.

**Concerning Arode**: While Cat was trapped in her room thanks to the doctors, her parents had to leave to go back to Arode and take care of their kingdom again. They left Cat's brother, Prince Kye, with us for a bit. He was to return home a bit later.

Kye, as the prince insisted on being called ("We're all friends and family here, no need to be formal," he told us), was actually a really nice guy who often told Cat stories and facts all about Arode. I'm almost positive that Kye was the one who convinced Cat to travel to Arode once she was declared fit for travel. An invitation was extended to me to go with them, but I declined, saying that someone had to run the bakery. Besides, I had already left Gwen running it alone or with Peter for long enough while I was waiting for Cat.

My best friend soon persuaded the castle doctors into letting her go. She came back home with me for a couple of days to pack her things for the trip. It was sad when the day came for her to leave us for her trip. There were tears and promises to write often and a threat made to Stephan to watch over Cat or else because he was going with her as an "ambassador or Spelika" or some kind of fancy excuse. As I watched Cat's carriage ride into the sunset through tear-filled eyes, I couldn't help but think that it was like a new dawn was shining on our friendship … Or something sentimental and stupid like that.

She stayed in Arode for over three months. Three. T. H. R. E. E. _Three_. She absolutely loved it there, she told me in her letters. Cat received basic training on how to be a princess; although she already had princess-perfect posture and the brains, she had yet to have her skills "refined." What free time she had was spent either with Stephan or her family.

Her eighteenth birthday came while she was away, much to the joy of the kingdom of Arode. And my seventeenth came a few days later, which I celebrated with a few friends and family members at home in the bakery. It was kind of tragic, if you ask me. It was the first year since I had been born that we had not spent our birthdays together, and saying "happy birthday" in a letter with unpredictable delivery time wasn't the same as saying it in person.

And mentioning birthdays, the two lovebirds came back just in time to spend Stephan's birthday here in Spelika. I attacked Cat with hugs and knew immediately that even though she enjoyed her stay at Arode and would visit the kingdom again and again, home was here.

**Concerning Gwen, Peter, and the bakery**: I love my sister and her husband. When my parents became sick those years back, those two moved here and took care not only of me, but of Cat and the family bakery. They didn't have to, but they did. I know that Gwen really wanted to start her own family in her own little house, but felt like she couldn't while she was watching over me and working so hard in the bakery.

Anyway, Gwen, Peter, and I tried to run the bakery by ourselves while Cat was away, but unfortunately for us, Peter often had to leave us so he could work at his own job as a messenger because he wasn't exactly the best baker. To make up for the help, I hired someone to work in the bakery. He was somewhere between my age and Gwen's and was the second son of a baker who had moved from another kingdom to Spelika. He even had a little brother who helped out every couple of days for no charge (though I paid him anyway).

The hired help really came in handy about two months into Cat's trip to Arode. That's when Gwen told me that she was pregnant. I was going to be an aunt! I was so excited that I baked a cake just for us to celebrate. Gwen being pregnant presented a few problems, though. For instance, would she continue living above the bakery with me or would she go find a new place to live? Would she continue to work in the bakery?

The answers, my friend … Wait a second. Can I even call you my friend if you're just a person who I might not even know? Oh, unrelated.

Going back to what I was saying, I knew what I had to do: I told Gwen to stay. I was only seventeen, but even Gwen considered the house to be mine more than hers since our parents went to a better place. That's probably because it was _The Hans Family Bakery_ and I was the last person in our family with the last name of Hans ever since Gwen married Peter Elrun. I told her that we were going to rename the bakery and that it would be hers completely. I would be the one leaving one day, not her. Yeah, it hurt me to say that because the bakery was my home, but Gwen needed and deserved it more than me. I'd still be there, but I wouldn't live there forever. I would move away.

Gwen renamed the bakery _Ratana's_ (in my honor, she said, as if she knew any other Ratana) and just over seven months later she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Baxter. He had – _has_ – his father's dirty blond hair and his mother's blue eyes. He was easily the most adorable thing I had ever seen at the time. He has grown up to be quite a handsome young boy, too. One who loves helping his mommy and taking care of his baby sister Kate, who looks just like her mother but with her father's smile and eye color.

**Concerning the first of three important weddings**: Is it not completely obvious who the first marriage belongs to? Yep, Cat and Stephan. Duh. It was about a month after they returned from Arode when they got engaged a few day's before Cupid's Day. Cat had been living with me in the bakery (though not because she couldn't live in the castle or something, mind you. She just wanted to live with me again for a bit longer.) when Stephan came in one day and asked for some chocolate cake. Since I was in on Stephan's plan, I knew that there would be no fresh chocolate cake in the shop yet because I had kept it in the kitchen. Cat grabbed the cake from the kitchen and when she walked back into the shop Stephan was down on his knee holding out a rose and a ring. Suffice to say, Cat dropped the cake and accepted.

I think that every single person in the kingdoms of Spelika and Arode was happy about the match. I mean, who could have asked for a better pair than a prince and princess of two neighboring kingdoms who were deeply in love? That's right: nobody at all.

They were married in December for some reason. I guess they just couldn't hold out for spring or warmer weather. It didn't even matter because it was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to (second to my own, but I'm also biased. More on that later). The ceremony was held in the ballroom closest to Cat and Stephan's beloved garden. I'm not even going to try to describe more than that because my description would never do it justice. Just know that two soul mates were happily joined in matrimony. And that I made the wedding cake. And it was delicious. Oh, and I threw carrots and vegetables all over a kitchen in the castle in the process of making it. But more than that you'll never know. Ha!

The wedding made Cat a princess by birth and marriage, a fact she was quickly accepting. The only thing she had a hard time accepting was that she would become a queen when Stephan's parent's decided to step down (which they did exactly a year later in another marvelous ceremony).

**Concerning the second and most important of three important weddings**: I haven't really told you this yet, but I'm sure this will come as no surprise to you that Arvin had _officially_ started courting me, seeing me – whatever term you want to use – right before Gwen told me about her pregnancy. Yes, we had both been attracted to the other before then, but we felt no need to rush things. Although, I really must say that I fell absolutely head over heels in love with Arvin quickly. For every joke that had been made about Cat and Stephan being in love, I'm sure that there were two or three made about us, most from Cat or Amity. My two best girl friends were delighted at the match and when they weren't planning Cat's wedding, they would jokingly start on mine. I wasn't even engaged yet!

After my best friend's wedding, Arvin proposed to me. It was during the Sash Festival that year, during the ball. I was Arvin's guest for the second year in a row and things were going great until just before midnight, when I stopped dancing with Arvin and started walking towards an exit of the room (for reasons I shall not ever write down where Cat can read them and hold them against me). Arvin was close behind me as I walked down some stairs, probably trying to figure out what in the world I was doing. However, one of my nearly translucent slippers came off and I stopped to put it back on when Arvin picked it up.

"You're not going anywhere yet," he said with a knowing smile. He bent down and placed the shoe back on to my foot. When he didn't make a move to stand back up, I looked down at him curiously. He shifted his position and right there and then pulled out a ring to ask me to marry him.

Of course I said yes, and in early April we were wed. A better wedding I have never been to. I even managed to make my own cake (with some help and more than just vegetables being thrown). It was a smaller wedding than Cat's, but at least I could say that mine was outside and in beautiful weather.

After the wedding, I left the bakery all to my sister and moved into the castle (to the disappointment of a few of our loyal customers). Even though I was a princess, I still spent more than just a little time in the biggest kitchen in the castle. Soon, the kitchen and its cooks were making the best pies in the kingdom and everyone knew it was because of me.

**Concerning the third of three important weddings: **Actually, it's been just over five years since the whole witch-dragon taking Cat incident and this third wedding hasn't even happened yet. It's about to happen, don't get me wrong, but it took forever for Amity and Jonathan to admit how in love with each other they were. After that, Jonathan wouldn't propose! We almost began to think that our sweet little Princess Sarina, who is now a beautiful young woman, would get married before those two. Then, about one year ago, Amity decided that she couldn't take it anymore and as Jonathan entered a room that Amity, Cat, Stephan and Arvin were in, she stood up and tackled him. Yes, you read that correctly. It was completely unladylike, but our Amity is a very special girl, so I think that's part of the reason Jonathan loves her so much. Moving on, he fell down onto a sofa. Amity poked him in the chest as she said, "I love you and I want to get married sometime in this century." The next day Jonathan proposed and we are having the wedding next week.

**Concerning children**: It must be said that everyone in my group of friends is the happiest they've ever been. We are all married or about to get married and, oddly enough, we are all one big family now. We've even had a few of additions in the last few recent years with one on the way. In the October after Cat and Stephan were married, their daughter was born. She had brown hair that shone red in the sunlight and green eyes. They named her Rose but call her Rosie because Stephan still calls his wife Rose every once in a while.

During the middle of the following march March, I gave birth to twins, of all things. Arvin was very much amused, but if he had to give birth to not just one baby but two in one sitting then I'm sure he would rethink things. Not that the pain of childbirth really mattered in the long run because my baby boys were – and still are – the most precious treasures to me in the entire world. They have dark brown hair and green-blue eyes. We named the two little lads Douglass and Oran.

The next addition to the family came just last July. To the world we welcome's Cat's second child, a boy named Brandon. He already has a head full of bright red hair and his eyes are taking on a lovely hazel. He'll be one to keep an eye on when he gets older.

And that leaves me expecting my child to arrive any time now. Bets are being placed all around the kingdom on whether it will be a boy or girl. While I'm holding out for a girl, the strong kicks I've been getting wouldn't leave me surprised if it is a boy. Either way, this baby will be loved with all my heart.

**Concerning everything else**: Wow, okay. This ended up not being so terrible to write. It was actually – dare I say – no, _write_ it? – easy to get sucked back into the memories.

Before I give this book back to Cat, I just want to say a few short things. First, Feya and her fairy-man-friend (I'm thinking that they will get married one day or whatever it is that full-blooded fairies do) went back to Wiltera Vinal's village with some soldiers, fairy and humans, shortly after the incident. They found Wiltera's body, and while I'll spare you the details, I will tell you that she was apparently smiling. They didn't do anything with the body that night because it was so late, but the next day she was gone. There are theories about what happened, but as long as Wiltera is gone, I don't care. Cat did, at first, but she's moving on. People have taken to calling Wiltera "The Rat," maybe to lessen the terrifying memory of her as a vicious dragon. The only reason that my friend hasn't moved on quickly is because she feels responsible for killing her, that Cat killed The Rat.

The other thing I want to tell you is that I am still Cat's best friend, as she is mine. We comfort and support each other through our challenges. We make the other a better person, I think.

Finally, the rule of King Stephan and Queen Catharine over Spelika has been mainly peaceful and prosperous. My rule as Princess Ratana over their kitchen has been equally great for the tongues and bellies of everyone in the castle. And I'm sure that's the way things will remain for years to come.

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Sorry if you were expecting something new; I just wanted everyone to know I'm not dead yet, I finally edited everything, and I'll hopefully be putting up new (not C&M) stuff soon.

When I went through edited, I got rid of most of the stupid typos, added and deleted a few sentences, changed basic formatting and stuff so the chapters all match, and general things like that. Nothing too major. Also, I changed the cover for this story, so please tell me what you think of it. :)

Oh, one more thing: ever since this story was completed, people have been reading the entire thing but have stopped leaving reviews. I love the fact that people are still reading this story, but I have no idea who you are or who to thank. If you are one of those people, could you do me a favor and at least tell me who your favorite character is? Thanks. :)

Many thanks to _**Brimo, HauntedApple, Pokemonchen, guest, **and** Rosenomore **_(Sarina was Bird, Arvin, and Amity's little sister, by the way) for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers ... Actually, thank you to anyone and everyone who has ever reviewed, alerted, or favorited _Cat and Mouse _or PM'd me. I love each and every single one of you so much.

**Thank you for your amazing support and for reading! You are awesome.** -Lauren


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